Living, Loving, Learning

Griffin's project for summer reading program. Assignment: make a collage that represents YOU. There were a ton of different magazines to choose from. I can't even list all the ways I love this. Number one though, is how fierce Griffin sees himself to be. Number two is, my child, at 7, is still color blind. Makes me feel like we are doing something right. Wow, 10 days since my last post - LAME! I will offer you a few excuses though. 1. SUMMER!!!! We are having an absolute blast with Griffin out of school. I am enjoying watching my two wee ones play together and deepen an already tight bond. Many hours are spent playing in the sprinkler or sandbox, at the playground, free movies or on play dates. 2. ENRICHMENT!!! Trying to avoid the dreaded "summer slide" and keep the wee one's little brains turning. We are part of the library's summer reading program (they each have their own session) plus reading lots together. Art projects and cooking lessons. Also, Lucy has...

We got to go camping AGAIN! I feel so lucky. This time we went with our amazing friends Dan and Brandy and their wee one, Myles (or Mybles if Lucy is calling him.) Myles is Lucy's best bud and he loved Griffin big time. They had an awesome time playing together all weekend. We went to a campground in LBTL National Park. It was a beautiful campground, clean, quiet and shady (so important as it is SUPER hot and humid down here now!) We actually saw a decent amount of wildlife just at the campground. Deer, normal and albino skunks and an ARMADILLO! He was soooo cool looking. We kept thinking, it can't be and armadillo, could it? But after some asking around we found out that recently there have been many in the area. On Saturday we drove down to the south end of the park, into TN, to the Homeplace, a working 1850's farm. It was children's day at the farm and there was so much for the kids see and do. We had such a good time despite the heat. The kids were so interested i...

First thing on Sunday morning, we headed over to Mammoth Cave National Park . Their beautiful visitors center made it so easy to figure out which tour would be right for us and to buy tickets. The Rangers stop you at the door to ask if you have been in caves within the last 5 years. There is a virus going around that is killing bats in high numbers and they are trying to prevent the spread into the caves there. I was the only one wearing the same shoes as the day before so I was the only one that had to disinfect myself. Anything to help the bats!! You walk out of the visitors center and down a steep path through the woods. You can feel the cool air before you even see the mouth of the cave. We had chosen to take a self-guided tour. Our kids were exhausted and we weren't sure how long they would last. Especially Lucy, when her Papa is around she suddenly loses the use of her legs and needs to be carried. Hmmmmm , who's got who figured out around here?? It's too bad she is...

We had an AHHHMAZING Memorial Day weekend! We packed up the Suby and headed out to the big cave region of KY. We got Griffin out of school a bit early so that we could get to the campground with enough time to set up and build a fire to cook dinner on. Of course, we were hardly settled in when Griffin managed to get himself stuck in the cooler handle. We were tempted to leave him there, but mercy prevailed and after I snuck a photo, we helped him out. HA...even he doesn't realize how tall he is getting!! Of course, every camping night has to include s'mores, which I suspect might be Lucy's favorite part of camping. She actually ate it pretty neatly the first night! As you will see, she got a little wilder each night. The kids got us up pretty early on Saturday morning, so after breakfast we headed over to KY Down Under . What an awesome place, I totally recommend it. A perfect place for families with small children. They have two bird enclosures that you can go into, arm...