Mother's Day in a Cave

Our original Mother's Day plan was to go swimming somewhere.  But as it got closer to Sunday and the weather got cooler and wetter, Husband came up with a new plan.  We headed north for a cave tour at Cathedral Caverns.

Our tour group was a small laid back group of 6 adults and 7 kids (counting our guide). And it was a pretty great way to spend a cold wet day outside -- in a cold and also wet cave!

family photo

the cave has one of the largest "commercial" cave openings

 Unlike Mammoth Cave, this cave doesn't have a "good roof" and stalactites and stalagmites are still forming.  It makes for more interesting pictures.  But I won't bore you with the 20 I took ... just a few.

underground family photo

It was a fun Mother's Day that also included those great cupcakes Husband made for my birthday and post cave Mexican food.  It was a great day with my favorite people.

Our Sunday in Kentucky

Sunday we started our morning early.  Packed up, checked out, and headed north.  

First we visited Mammoth Cave National Park. fun.

Second we visited with BBWP and her family.  DOUBLE fun.

seriously.  sigh. two perfect days in a row.  rarely happens so I have to enjoy it while it lasts.

The park was offering free Mammoth Passage tours on Sunday morning.  We were there.

the kids liked the hiking in the cave part but not so much the stopping to hear interesting historical facts about the cave.
btw, you weren't actually supposed to touch the cave, DAUGHTER.  sigh.

Husband and I really enjoyed it.  We wished the hour long tour was longer  and the kids weren't with us.  (truth)

 The tour was fun but rather serious and we were in a group of over 40 people.  We did learn about the cave's sturdy roof and some of its really amazing history.

posing in front.

We weren't in Park City long before Son made it known that he had a new best friend.

Husband and the kids played hide and go seek and sweet sweet Son always tried to hide in the dogs' houses.

Until his new best friend showed him a great spot behind a tree.  It worked until he gave himself away!

Next we visited the cows.

and the tractor.

and had a great family picture made in the field.

Son's three favorite things: strawberries, chocolate, and BBWP. check, check, and check.

It's always such a fantastic time when you can get together with a dear friend (and her family) that you haven't seen in 3 years and it feels like you never left at all.

Wordless Wednesday: A rained out Braves game long ago

My July 5K (and some slime)

Saturday was my 5K for July.  It was fun because it's one that a sweet friend I've had since middle school organized (this is the 2nd annual) to benefit her church's missionary efforts in Haiti.  But when you don't really run on any kind of consistent basis in the 3 weeks before the race, you really can't expect to have a great run. And I was overheating and a lot of other excuses.  At the water stations I took a cup of water for my throat and a cup to pour down my back.   hot, hot, hot. Luckily, it was a pretty flat and easy course.

Anyway, kind of like the way Mandy and I hope to one day beat the mayor of HYT in a race, I hoped to beat one of Husband's law professors that was running.  But alas.  I stuck to him pretty close for most of the race but then I opted to walk from the mile 2 marker until the mile 3 marker.  He got ahead and beat me by about a minute.  And won 2 place in his age division: 65+  seriously.

a family picture right before the race started.  stretched and ready to go.

the kids LOVED the bouncy house during and after the race 

Looks like I'm really booking it, huh?  That's because I walked for A MILE and I had  some energy left at the end to hurry up and finish!  (I also got a little sunburn on my shoulders.  must remember sunscreen)

Son asked for something that I did not understand and neither did the face painter.  So I suggested a basketball.  He was pretty giddy about it.

with no prompting, Daughter asked for a pig.  She is currently in love with all things Peppa Pig.

After the race, we went to Mcwane for Slimy Slippery Saturday.  The kids were excited.  And then we got there and they saw how crowded it was and how hot it was outside and suddenly they wanted to go in and play with the bubbles!  I prompted them to do everything once and we'd go in.  

Son, going down the slide into the slime.  Daughter opted not to go up the slide because she said the rubber was too hot to touch.

Walking in the slime.  They thought that was cool.

Then they were ready to go in and do all their normal McWane things.  It was a fun and exhausting day. 

a Father's Day 5k

Husband ran his first 5k of the season on Saturday. And he did well. Not as great as he wanted to do, but still respectable (under 31 minutes). His playlist wasn't in order, there was NO WATER on the course and it was pretty hilly. But he did great. I'm always so proud to see him come into view at the finish line. I cheer and cheer and can usually get the kids to at least clap and shout out one "GO DADDY" This time I got so excited cheering that I didn't even take a picture at the finish line. eh. oh well.

The race was at Oak Mountain State Park and started and ended at the beach. I was glad about that because it gave the kids and I something to do while we waiting the 25-ish minutes for him to show up again!

Before the race.

family photo before the race.

the kids running to the beach

their first steps

respecting the boundary I put in place: DO NOT GET YOUR CLOTHES WET

Also respecting the boundary

still respecting the boundary with rolled up shorts

completely disregarding the boundary.

I'm not even going to tell you how much sand were in the pockets of those shorts!

Husband talking to his running buddy after the race.

We went back down to the beach again for about 30 more minutes before the kids changed clothes and we were off to our next destination.

P.S. My favorite part of Saturday was when Husband and I went to V.Richards for lunch and Frank Sinatra singing Nice and Easy started playing and he asked me to dance. It was nice, esp dressed in funeral clothes.

Wordless Wednesday: He is BANNED from rope swings

our 2011 calendar

I love Vista Print. Once you start doing business with them, they send you loads and loads of free/discounted offers. That's where I got my postcrossing postcards. Last year I racked up, free totes with our pictures on them, free mouse pad, pens, stationary, note cards, address labels. sure, there's a shipping charge. but it's not much.

Last year, I made 4 2010 calendars. 1 for our house, 1 for Husband to take to work for his office and one for both of our mothers. I think I got those buy one get one free. But I was so excited about them. Mainly because I got to sort through all the year's pictures to find ONE for each month. April is Son's birth month and September is Daughter's so they "got" those months. And the rest, Husband and I narrowed it down as best we could.

It was nice looking at the 2010 calendar all year with last year's memories. So of course I wanted to do it again this year. ESPECIALLY when I saw the deal Vista Print has running on Facebook right now. (click on the Holiday Deals tab and you'll see "new calendar")

I got FIVE photo collage calendars for $19.98 (plus shipping) I panicked and paid for 2 week shipping to get it in time for Christmas and it arrived 4 days after I placed the order. They are always REALLY fast with shipping.

I couldn't narrow it down to just one photo per month so I opted to do the photo collage option and chose 6 pictures per month. And even that was hard!

So here is the tiniest sneak preview of our 2011 calendar:

This is the front of the calendar. It's also our Holiday Card photo.

(I took over 300 pictures with my tripod and camera timer to get this one shot. And it's not even a spectacular shot. insanity)

NOTE: all the pictures below are actually printed in black and white in the calendar, but less the first one, I posted the color shot for the blog. And these were all taken Saturday.

Daughter running around the yard playing chase, about 30 minutes before we went to pick out our Christmas tree.

Son before going outside to play in the yard before going to pick out the Christmas tree. He looks so grown up here. Not like the 21 month old he actually is!

Husband took this one while we were playing around later that night. There were some really silly ones where we're making funny faces but for the calendar, this is it.

Husband and Son playing outside before picking out the Christmas tree.

We definitely don't take very many of these anymore. There's usually a kid in the way!

Husband says he's had this sweater for over a decade and I promise I have ZERO recollection of ever seeing it before Saturday!

The sixth picture is our family picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus at Palisades Park.

Wednesday Part 3: What happens when we try to take a family photo

After Pie Lab we decided to stretch our legs a little and walked a few blocks in downtown Greensboro. Husband mentioned trying a family photo.

Sure!

We tried. These are the results. The first one is the best in regards to everyone at least looking at the camera.

great memories.

our best family photo e.v.e.r.

seriously, this is the 5th family photo we've successfully taken since becoming a family of 4 over a year ago. (And I have to admit, I try about once a week)

We even accidentally match. Husband dressed himself and Daughter without knowing what I was wearing and Son is wearing a different outfit than he started the day in because of an unfortunate nutella accident (if you ask him he'll tell you there was nothing unfortunate about it).

We stopped last minute to visit a friend Husband hasn't seen in months and I haven't seen since her baby shower a month or so ago. And she snapped the picture as we were leaving. hurray.

the great pumpkin carve of 2009

In our house, everyone gets a pumpkin. but not everyone gets to cut into their pumpkin and pull its guts out. We have varying levels of decoration.

levels used this year
level 1: sharpie
level 2: mr. potato head like-facial features bought last year at 80% off that you stick in the pumpkin
level 3: knives and pens
level 4: knives, pens, mallets, screw drivers and expensive coat hangers

Husband's pumpkin, my pumpkin, Daughter's pumpkin and Son's pumpkin

This is the probably the first family photo we've taken since Son was born, almost 7 months ago. I love that Son and Daughter are holding hands. They do that a lot.

cutting the top off my pumpkin. (level 3)

Daughter decorating her pumpkin (level 2)

Daughter's finished pumpkin

Son and his finished pumpkin (level 1) when you're more concerned with playing with your feet than celebrating a family tradition, you're Level 1 by default.

my jack-o-lantern lit up. this is the most creative pumpkin I ever created. I free handed it from a pic a friend posted on her facebook. (Level 3) it turned out better than I ever imagined.

Husband's jack-o-lantern. (level 4) very creative.

Husband hanging his level 4 jack-o-lantern. in the dark it has the illusion of floating. Notice my sweet stray cat. if you remember the death pumpkin of 2007, you'll understand why I now fear for her life.


our pumpkin family.