These pics are the reason I love KY so... My heart just leaps when I see forest-covered mountains. 
Noah told me he was fishin'. Basically...its a stick in the water. But he was happy to pretend!
Ethan had much more fun with feats of strength...let's see how big of a rock I can throw and how far I can throw it...
Back: Cousin Larry, Uncle Les, Aunt Vicky, Dad.
Front: Short (Cousin Bernice), Great Aunt Bernice, Granny, Poppie, Mom
Dad, Poppie, Mom, Granny, Great Aunt Bernice, Aunt Vicky and Uncle LesOh, and Champ - Granny and Poppies new favorite grandchild... :)
Course, I loved the critters. I swear, I think I channel the spirit of Ellie Mae Clampet...
Is that you, my prince?????? 
We chased this lizard around for about an hour before finally getting a pic.
Some very nice horseback riders came by and let the kids pet the horses. We invited them for desert... The one in the black T-shirt was packing a pistol which greatly entertained the boys!
Um, yeah. Did I mention my family is from KY? When in Rome... :)
A bunch of cousins having a lot of fun with a Daddy Long Legs. I was very pleased to see my boys getting into the fauna of the area and not being scared to touch! Yeah! My biology powers are having an effect finally! 
It was a lot of fun to watch the kids entertain themselves and make up games to play with just the nature around them. Oh, and the dog. 
A brief shower inspired Ethan to catch rain drops on his tongue. Of course, I never drink May raindrops. They aren't ripe yet... (to honor Lucy in a Charlie Brown Christmas...)
On our way back to the shelter from the cave. Our spelunking adventure was a success!
Still some of the props left from the Segal movie "Fire Down Below". Here my boys are showing off their guns by lifting boulders. And, no...I have NO idea why Ethan insists on wearing his socks like knee socks. Kids and their fashion now-a-days.
Inside "Fat Man's Squeeze". Doesn't every cave have one of these?
The Saltpetre cave isn't one of those pretty, sparkly caves, but it has some cool formations that are unique to it.
Most of the formations are worn smooth from the water that dug the cave out.
Another view of the Squeeze...
All through the squeeze, people have carved, painted, or otherwise inked their names and dates on the walls. I'm sure it's not the oldest, but the oldest I found so far was 1810. Supposedly, Daniel Boone carved his name in there somewhere...
Ethan just wanted to get out of the squeeze and was getting a bit annoyed with me wanting to take pictures. He did think it was cool that he actually had to duck here, though.
Another mommy treat...the only bat sighting we had.
Some of the left over tools and things from when people used this cave.
Noah was using his "stick of discovery" to, well, make discoveries. Every few steps he'd stop, point to something and say "oh, wow. That's cool" or tell me what he thought it was. This? According to Noah, someone painted a black spot there. Impressive, isn't he?
Not the squeeze, but the ceiling gets pretty low in some places. Even I had to duck...and that's saying something.
This is a fake skeleton put in a dug grave just to illustrate the area of the cave used for burial. The kids were fascinated. I tried to get them to lie down in there next to it but they wouldn't have any of that even knowing it was fake.
Another mommy treat: Cave Cricket. Even though I zoomed up on him, he's still probably about quarter to half dollar size for his body. Counting legs, I'd estimate him to be 5-6 inches from front to back, 3-4 inches side to side.
This is the "Great Room". They used to hold square dances, church, and a lot of other social gatherings back here. There is even a makeshift stage area and dressing room on one end - all made out of the rock (some natural and some carved).
Here's several cousins waiting by the entrance for the gate to be unlocked. Note Ethan...doing what he does best - bunny ears. :) He's so stinkin' funny!
Granny and Poppie
Granny with Great Aunt Bonnie.
Noah stuck some flowers in my hair and it just exploded from there. At least it helped hide the fact that it went limp somewhere around noon... :) Noah always makes me feel like a princess! He's a charmer, that one!
Poppie and one of his brothers, Uncle Dennis.
Orneriness is genetic in them Halcomb Brothers. :)
And of course no Mullins reunion would be complete without some home grown Bluegrass music. Uncle John is on the upright bass.This reunion was much bigger this year than I ever remember it to be...with lots of people I've never met before. Apparently, Sissy and Lila have been doing a bang-up job in tracking down other branches of our tree...such as Great Grandma Cora and Great Grandpa Elmer's brothers and sister's kids. It's a lot of fun and I look forward to making this a part of my children's tradition as it was mine as a child.
1 comment:
After posting the picture of me with the frog, I heard a Superchic song that I thought was funny. The chorus goes like this:
"All princes start as frogs and all gentlemen as dogs.
Just wait till its plain to see
What we're growing up to be.
Cause Some frogs will still be frogs
And Some dogs will still be dogs
Some boys could become men
Just don't kiss us 'til then."
Well said. What is disheartening is to find out you've been kissing a frog all along...THINKING he was a prince. Or was the enchantment only temporary...like a Cinderella complex????
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