We're taking off in about half an hour to go camping again. This time it's down south of Bloomington (IN) and it has electricity and water hookups! YAY! And a swimming pool and a playground. Still haven't been able to import my photos from last week. So by the time I can get them done, I'll have tons to show y'all!
Have a good week!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Our First Camping Experience -- Summer '09
Last Sunday, we packed up the trailer, put the kids in Grandma's car and drove five hours to get to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. It was a pretty uneventful trip down and set up of the trailer went smoothly. And although Grandma's trailer has electricity and water hook ups, the park didn't. So, no television for the kids (darn), no running water to wash dishes, and worst of all, no air conditioning!! Unfortunately, it was hot and sticky, with no breezes coming in those tiny windows. Made sleeping even more uncomfortable on that little couch.
Mammoth Cave is not just a cool name that the park rangers thought up. The park sits atop miles of caves. So far they have mapped out 367 miles of caves. Or something like that. Grandma was gung-ho on going spelunking. Okay, it wasn't really spelunking, but it sounds better than "walked down some stairs into the cave." :D
The first tour of the cave that we did was called the "Snowball Tour." They drove us out in a bus and dropped us in the middle of nowhere. Then we walked down 183 wet, cold stairs to get into the cave. Don't know why Wyatt was so freaked out by the stairs, but he wanted to hold my hand the whole way. At the bottom of the stairs, we walked for about a mile, admiring stalagtites and markings from explorers before. They also took us down a side tunnel and made everyone turn off their flashlights/cameras/phones to get a sense of how dark it was down there. No light comes in. I couldn't see Larkin -- and I was holding her! For some reason, I couldn't get any bars on my phone....... We made it to the Snowball Room, which is an underground cafeteria. Grandma had brought some snacks, so we munched on those while waiting for the tour to resume. After lunch, we headed back the way we came. I knew I was going to have to climb those 183 steps to get back out, but I knew I could handle it. Until we got to the incline right before them, when I realized that my legs had turned to jello. But, I was not the last one up those stairs -- I left that little old lady from California in the dust! :D
The second day, we took another tour. It was the "New Entrance" tour. This one had almost three hundred stairs to go down! Not only were they cold and wet, they also got narrower as you went down. Plus, the cave crowded in a few places. Oh, and there was a 60 ft drop off to the side. Good place to get over your fear of heights, small spaces, creepy white spiders and crickets.... This tour was much more fascinating. There were really cool formations of stalagtites and stalagmites. Eventually they will grow together and close off portions of the cave. I highly recommend the tours. They're a great workout!
Wednesday was supposed to be rainy all day, but we decided to go down to Bowling Green and take the kids to an amusement park called Beech Bend. It didn't look like much driving up to it. We decided to let the kids go to the waterpark first. There was a splash pool for Wyatt and Larkin. I have pics, but my cord is acting up and I can't import them. Anyway, there was a jungle gym in the middle of it, with slides and buckets and fountains. Wyatt was having a ball sliding down into the water. Larkin stayed by the edge of the pool. She didn't like the shower of water if she wandered too far towards the slides. Caelyn and Piper took off to the bigger kids water slides. They had a yellow one, which was all open; a red one that was semi-enclosed; and a blue one that was completely enclosed. The girls had fun going down those. Wyatt convinced Grandma to take him up and he came down the yellow and red slides with her. He really didn't want to go back to the baby pool after that. Caelyn and Piper lasted about an hour in the pools before they changed and went on the amusement rides. We caught up to them about two hours later when we were ready to leave. Even with everyone getting a little red, I think they had a good time.
Storms broke around midnight on Wednesday and continued into Thursday. We almost came home a day early, but Grandma, Grandpa and Piper decided to take another cave tour. More power to them! All the rain had soaked our firewood, so when they got back, we cooked dinner in the trailer. The radio was on during dinner and clean up, which was good as there was a tornado warning for us. We got the two little ones out of bed, everyone put on their ponchos and we headed over to the campground bathroom, where we hunkered down while the storm passed over us. Kentucky's extreme weather is like a regular thunderstorm here in Indy!
Friday consisted of getting everyone ready, the trailer packed up and the kids in the car to come home. We apparently didn't learn our lesson as we're headed back out Sunday for more. This time we're going to Spring Hill State Park (I think) somewhere south of Bloomington. At least we'll have water and electricity! I'll post pics as soon as I can get the cord to work.
Mammoth Cave is not just a cool name that the park rangers thought up. The park sits atop miles of caves. So far they have mapped out 367 miles of caves. Or something like that. Grandma was gung-ho on going spelunking. Okay, it wasn't really spelunking, but it sounds better than "walked down some stairs into the cave." :D
The first tour of the cave that we did was called the "Snowball Tour." They drove us out in a bus and dropped us in the middle of nowhere. Then we walked down 183 wet, cold stairs to get into the cave. Don't know why Wyatt was so freaked out by the stairs, but he wanted to hold my hand the whole way. At the bottom of the stairs, we walked for about a mile, admiring stalagtites and markings from explorers before. They also took us down a side tunnel and made everyone turn off their flashlights/cameras/phones to get a sense of how dark it was down there. No light comes in. I couldn't see Larkin -- and I was holding her! For some reason, I couldn't get any bars on my phone....... We made it to the Snowball Room, which is an underground cafeteria. Grandma had brought some snacks, so we munched on those while waiting for the tour to resume. After lunch, we headed back the way we came. I knew I was going to have to climb those 183 steps to get back out, but I knew I could handle it. Until we got to the incline right before them, when I realized that my legs had turned to jello. But, I was not the last one up those stairs -- I left that little old lady from California in the dust! :D
The second day, we took another tour. It was the "New Entrance" tour. This one had almost three hundred stairs to go down! Not only were they cold and wet, they also got narrower as you went down. Plus, the cave crowded in a few places. Oh, and there was a 60 ft drop off to the side. Good place to get over your fear of heights, small spaces, creepy white spiders and crickets.... This tour was much more fascinating. There were really cool formations of stalagtites and stalagmites. Eventually they will grow together and close off portions of the cave. I highly recommend the tours. They're a great workout!
Wednesday was supposed to be rainy all day, but we decided to go down to Bowling Green and take the kids to an amusement park called Beech Bend. It didn't look like much driving up to it. We decided to let the kids go to the waterpark first. There was a splash pool for Wyatt and Larkin. I have pics, but my cord is acting up and I can't import them. Anyway, there was a jungle gym in the middle of it, with slides and buckets and fountains. Wyatt was having a ball sliding down into the water. Larkin stayed by the edge of the pool. She didn't like the shower of water if she wandered too far towards the slides. Caelyn and Piper took off to the bigger kids water slides. They had a yellow one, which was all open; a red one that was semi-enclosed; and a blue one that was completely enclosed. The girls had fun going down those. Wyatt convinced Grandma to take him up and he came down the yellow and red slides with her. He really didn't want to go back to the baby pool after that. Caelyn and Piper lasted about an hour in the pools before they changed and went on the amusement rides. We caught up to them about two hours later when we were ready to leave. Even with everyone getting a little red, I think they had a good time.
Storms broke around midnight on Wednesday and continued into Thursday. We almost came home a day early, but Grandma, Grandpa and Piper decided to take another cave tour. More power to them! All the rain had soaked our firewood, so when they got back, we cooked dinner in the trailer. The radio was on during dinner and clean up, which was good as there was a tornado warning for us. We got the two little ones out of bed, everyone put on their ponchos and we headed over to the campground bathroom, where we hunkered down while the storm passed over us. Kentucky's extreme weather is like a regular thunderstorm here in Indy!
Friday consisted of getting everyone ready, the trailer packed up and the kids in the car to come home. We apparently didn't learn our lesson as we're headed back out Sunday for more. This time we're going to Spring Hill State Park (I think) somewhere south of Bloomington. At least we'll have water and electricity! I'll post pics as soon as I can get the cord to work.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
This one's for Julie!
Getting a lot of flak about not keeping up with this. But really, it's so boring over here! Biggest thing to happen is I got a (temp) job! I've been covering the phones at Jim's workplace as the receptionist does some training. Yesterday was her last day of training, so I only have one more day of work lined up. It's this Thursday while Linda goes and gets some different training. They seem to like me and I haven't gotten any complaints about my performance, so maybe they'll keep me in mind when something else comes up.
Yesterday was fun. It's always going to be a good day when the principal calls. Now, unlike Julie, I didn't know it was the school calling. But when he said his name, I was more confused than worried. I mean, Piper's principal calling me is one thing -- hate to say I expect to hear from her principals! But this one was Caelyn's. Apparently, she's been a little physical with one of her friends. She's been jumping on his back, pushing him in the hallway, into a locker. She thought it was all in fun, but I guess he didn't. So he went to the principal and talked to him, who then talked to Caelyn. Now, this is the boy who on Thursday put his arm around Caelyn and said she was his girlfriend. Which she's not.
I had Grandma ground her until I got home from work and talked to her. She admitted doing the things the boy accused her of, but didn't know he was taking it badly. Her biggest thing was that he never said anything to her, he went to the principal. And she wanted to know if she had an in school suspension because some of her friends thought she did. And they heard it from the boy. Twelve year old drama. Can't wait til she hits the teens!
Yesterday was fun. It's always going to be a good day when the principal calls. Now, unlike Julie, I didn't know it was the school calling. But when he said his name, I was more confused than worried. I mean, Piper's principal calling me is one thing -- hate to say I expect to hear from her principals! But this one was Caelyn's. Apparently, she's been a little physical with one of her friends. She's been jumping on his back, pushing him in the hallway, into a locker. She thought it was all in fun, but I guess he didn't. So he went to the principal and talked to him, who then talked to Caelyn. Now, this is the boy who on Thursday put his arm around Caelyn and said she was his girlfriend. Which she's not.
I had Grandma ground her until I got home from work and talked to her. She admitted doing the things the boy accused her of, but didn't know he was taking it badly. Her biggest thing was that he never said anything to her, he went to the principal. And she wanted to know if she had an in school suspension because some of her friends thought she did. And they heard it from the boy. Twelve year old drama. Can't wait til she hits the teens!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I can't believe 2009 is here already. Where does the time go? It's been a month since my last post and several things happened in there. Jason took off the week of Christmas and we headed down to a cabin in TN to spend Christmas with his parents and his sister Julie and her family. Now, when I say cabin, y'all probably are imagining this one room building with no heat and an outhouse. Well, you were kind of right on the heat thing, but not about the one room building. This cabin was bigger than our house... and much cooler! Here's a link if you want to see:
http://www.cabinfevervacations.com/gatlinburg-pigeon-forge-cabin-rentals/cid/748
All in all, it was a great trip. We got to the cabin Monday night, and found out the furnace wasn't big enough to heat the entire cabin. Thank goodness Monday and Tuesday were the coldest days and we didn't have to use the heater too much! By the time we left Sunday, I think it was in the upper 60s. Christmas eve day was spent making cookies and ornaments. I napped on the couch through the ornament making as the hard bed and my head cold made sleeping at night a challenge. The guys went out and shot a round of golf...Jason blamed the wind for driving his ball into one of the other cabins. After getting Wyatt and Larkin in bed, we were about to follow a Turner family tradition of watching "The Polar Express" while eating popcorn when the power went out. Grandma and the five older kids scrunched together on the couch to watch the movie on Julie's Mac. None seemed to care. After the movie and getting the kids to bed, presents were put under the tree (and some were being wrapped) in the dark, using cell phones, laptops and cameras for light. Deciding we all enjoy living in the age of electricity, we called it an early night and went to bed. The power came on around 11 that night, so at least it wasn't out too long!
Christmas was wonderful. Very low-key, not too many toys that made noise. The kids disappeared for hours to play with new toys. Don't think I saw Wyatt at all the rest of that day. Jason cooked {gasp! I know!} breakfast for everyone. It was very quiet the rest of the day. Mom cooked a wonderful full dinner and things went fine until clean up when the kitchen faucet started to look like Old Faithful! Thank goodness it was a rental and they were able to get a plumber out to look at it on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, he didn't have the right part and had to come back on Friday. By then, Mom, Julie, Caelyn and I were out the door for a day of shopping. We went down a road that has a lot of art galleries and other interesting shops. I think Julie was the only one to buy anything and that was just a small handbag. A whole day of shopping and only one purchase?? Unheard of! :D
Saturday we all went in to Pigeon Forge where everyone but Larkin and me rode the go carts. Caelyn was tall enough to drive by herself, but everyone else had a partner. Not sure Brian or Grandma had all that much fun (Grandma got bumped and spun around) but I think everyone else enjoyed it. While they were doing that, Larkin and I went over to the baby section where she rode on the carousel twice, the airplanes once and the spinners three times. The carny working that one thought Larkin was about to cry. I had to assure her that Larkin was having a blast. She even wanted to spin faster. Think I would have lost my lunch by the third time in a row!
Sunday we came home and had Christmas with my parents. They had spent a good portion of the week painting our bedroom (had the paint since the summer.) Mom had added one of those accents to the wall. It says "Let Love Rain" and there are pictures of all the kids under it. It was a wonderful surprise to see that done! The kids got Wii Music from my parents and we all got Wii Mario Kart from Rob and Steph. There have been a lot of video games played this past week.
It's hard to believe, but Piper turned NINE on Thursday! The day was spent making gingerbread houses and listening to Piper ask when we were doing her cake and presents. Which happened to be after dinner. So by the time it was time to do cake and presents, we were sick of her asking and threatening to take all the presents back! I can still remember her birth... probably because I didn't get enough drugs, but that's beside the point. I cannot believe she's almost into double digits.
Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and got to spend it like I did, surrounded by people I love. May 2009 be a blessed year for you!
http://www.cabinfevervacations.com/gatlinburg-pigeon-forge-cabin-rentals/cid/748
All in all, it was a great trip. We got to the cabin Monday night, and found out the furnace wasn't big enough to heat the entire cabin. Thank goodness Monday and Tuesday were the coldest days and we didn't have to use the heater too much! By the time we left Sunday, I think it was in the upper 60s. Christmas eve day was spent making cookies and ornaments. I napped on the couch through the ornament making as the hard bed and my head cold made sleeping at night a challenge. The guys went out and shot a round of golf...Jason blamed the wind for driving his ball into one of the other cabins. After getting Wyatt and Larkin in bed, we were about to follow a Turner family tradition of watching "The Polar Express" while eating popcorn when the power went out. Grandma and the five older kids scrunched together on the couch to watch the movie on Julie's Mac. None seemed to care. After the movie and getting the kids to bed, presents were put under the tree (and some were being wrapped) in the dark, using cell phones, laptops and cameras for light. Deciding we all enjoy living in the age of electricity, we called it an early night and went to bed. The power came on around 11 that night, so at least it wasn't out too long!
Christmas was wonderful. Very low-key, not too many toys that made noise. The kids disappeared for hours to play with new toys. Don't think I saw Wyatt at all the rest of that day. Jason cooked {gasp! I know!} breakfast for everyone. It was very quiet the rest of the day. Mom cooked a wonderful full dinner and things went fine until clean up when the kitchen faucet started to look like Old Faithful! Thank goodness it was a rental and they were able to get a plumber out to look at it on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, he didn't have the right part and had to come back on Friday. By then, Mom, Julie, Caelyn and I were out the door for a day of shopping. We went down a road that has a lot of art galleries and other interesting shops. I think Julie was the only one to buy anything and that was just a small handbag. A whole day of shopping and only one purchase?? Unheard of! :D
Saturday we all went in to Pigeon Forge where everyone but Larkin and me rode the go carts. Caelyn was tall enough to drive by herself, but everyone else had a partner. Not sure Brian or Grandma had all that much fun (Grandma got bumped and spun around) but I think everyone else enjoyed it. While they were doing that, Larkin and I went over to the baby section where she rode on the carousel twice, the airplanes once and the spinners three times. The carny working that one thought Larkin was about to cry. I had to assure her that Larkin was having a blast. She even wanted to spin faster. Think I would have lost my lunch by the third time in a row!
Sunday we came home and had Christmas with my parents. They had spent a good portion of the week painting our bedroom (had the paint since the summer.) Mom had added one of those accents to the wall. It says "Let Love Rain" and there are pictures of all the kids under it. It was a wonderful surprise to see that done! The kids got Wii Music from my parents and we all got Wii Mario Kart from Rob and Steph. There have been a lot of video games played this past week.
It's hard to believe, but Piper turned NINE on Thursday! The day was spent making gingerbread houses and listening to Piper ask when we were doing her cake and presents. Which happened to be after dinner. So by the time it was time to do cake and presents, we were sick of her asking and threatening to take all the presents back! I can still remember her birth... probably because I didn't get enough drugs, but that's beside the point. I cannot believe she's almost into double digits.
Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and got to spend it like I did, surrounded by people I love. May 2009 be a blessed year for you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)