The Best Place to Have Kitties

Well -- we got home from our trip -- and were greeted enthusiastically by our dog, Ebony. Oh he was so excited to see some of us. (Not me). He loves the kids! After a bit I asked, "Has anyone seen Susan?" OK -- not my blogging friend Susan... but our CAT named Susan. She was preggo when we left -- we were curious to see if we had more pets when we come home, then when we left.

Nope -- nothing -- don't see her. Not unusual -- maybe she's out hunting wabbits. So we unloaded the van. Took everything inside... Dan is outside doing some final tidying (he is always doing some final tidying :giggle:) "TORI" Dan is hollering for Tori - she is our pet lover.

He says he can hear the kitty -- but can't find her. Where is Susan?

Can you see her?


That's right WAYNE -- she is IN the milk can -- WITH her 4 kitties.

What a place to have your babies.





Look at that protective arm over her babies. These are brand spanking NEW kitties too. I think they were born the day we came home... if not hours before we came home. I'm guessing she thought that would be the safest place around. Maybe under the porch other critters may get in there? Who knows. I don't think like a cat.


I made her move out of the milk can. I thought it would get hot in there. And I doubt she could get out of there very easily. So we put the pet porter up on the porch, tipped over the milk can and enticed her into the cat carrier with some milk. I had to dump the kitties out of the milk jug. I hope I didn't cause any brain damage -- I tried to be gentle.


She's doing fine.
Susan is the only cat we have left from our last batch of kitties.
So we are starting fresh.
What a way to end a vacation.

I praise God every day for my family. Things like this remind us that God is an awesome creator. He made small insignificant things like cats and their kitties, all the way up to my dear husband and his wonderful babies.

Thanks for a wonderful time Dan. I sure loved traveling with you. I can't wait to do it again some time. You are a great provider and protector. I just can't imagine going through this week with out you. You are a great husband and wonderful father!

Thank you kiddos for being so great. You are wonderful travelers! Hardly complaining -- OK... so that's not so true. But really only complaining a little. I had fun with you and really enjoy being around you.

Thank you Lord, again, for all you have given me. Kitties, fillies and air conditioner too!

Best Horse Park I've ever been to.

OK -- so the Kentucky Horse Park is the ONLY horse park I've been to. We love our Daughter -- she loves horses -- so since we are so close we go to a horse park. LOL Me? Well -- I love my daughter... Does that tell you anything? (I don't love horses so much - but she knows that). Hey -- let's just say I love her more than horses!

Really -- the history part was very interesting. That blue pole up above... ya see it? Over there on the left? That is the START of Man o'War's stride... the START... the finish is the 3rd pole on the right. 28 feet. Can you believe it? That is amazing... that horse could R.U.N.!! He is now buried at the Kentucky Horse Park - there is a neat memorial there for him and some of his off spring.


The Kentucky Horse Park is where some CHAMPION horses retire. There were 6 there... and they brought out 5 for a Parade of Champions. Interesting note -- the RICHEST racing horse evah. he also happens to be a gelding. Oh bummer...

It was there that I noticed Wayne was getting a bit fussy... so I was a bit distracted. Tori -- she was NOT distracted... she was enamored. Ü

Then we went to the Parade of Breeds. They brought out several breeds for us to view and the riders dressed up in costumes. This horse is HUGE... don't ask me the breed... but her costume sure is pretty. LOL



See her skinned up knee? Well -- she was on the first horse to come out -- the horse SLIPPED... and her foot got stuck in the stirrup. YIKES!! She shook it off like a trooper... but I saw her limping later... I'd have been bawling... but that's why I don't like horses -- they make ya bawl. (sometimes)

We then headed over to another barn... the BIG BARN they call it -- to see some Mares and their Foals. It is the biggest wooden barn in all the USA. Wowza.

I used to call every baby horse a colt. Well -- I instructed a "horse" class for home school girls this winter. I know now that all baby horses are Foals -- either a filly or a colt depending on if they are male or female. So -- we saw 2 mares and 2 foals. I don't know if we were looking at a filly or a colt... I was watching Wayne. He seemed feverish...

OK -- Tori says... the miniature foal was a filly. See... she was paying attention. LOL Isn't that little filly cute??!!

See -- Wayne is asleep in his dad's arms. Not normal. Thus -- my lack of paying attention to horses.

I've read that they have a FANTASTIC horse museum... but some of us were feverish... so we skipped it. Maybe next time. So -- we went directly to Tori's trail ride.

I think she liked that idea -- what do you think?

Her horse? Well -- her horse may feel other wise. Old hat for him -- that trail ride.

So -- Wayne was fussy... I was tired of holding him... and it was getting close to lunch time. I volunteered to take the rest of the non-horse riding kiddos to the van. We would eat our lunch and they could trek over to the van after Tori's trail ride.

It was an adventuresome walk to the van. Wayne only threw up once. Yuck! Just so happened to throw up on the carpet. There we were in the out doors -- horse poo every where... and he waits until the 3 minutes we are on carpet before he hurls. N.I.C.E. I didn't get mad at him... he really wasn't feeling well. It tuned out his THROAT hurt... he was telling me his NECK hurt... so why the vomit? Who knows? He had a sore throat for several days... but seems fine now. Praise God for Motrin. Praise God for a dear husband who REMEMBERED the Motrin!! Whew...

We all ate lunch -- got in the rented van -- traveled back to the airport. Switched out our stuff into the borrowed van with no a/c and headed home.

1/2 way home we stayed in a SUPER DUPER motel that was down the street from a Bob Evan's Restaurant. You know they sell Sweet Tea there too. It goes great with omelets and potatoes. Oh my word... that's totally not on my plan. I'm pretty sure the sweet tea did me in. I want to move south.

No worries... I'll just start over with my diet on Monday....

So -- after that -- will everything seem like a let down? No more excitement? Blah? Hum Drum??

Yeah RIGHT!!

Come back tomorrow to see the best place ever to give birth to kitties.
°Ü°

Day 2 of Creation Museum

Day 2 of the Creation Museum started with a movie called Men in White. It was funny, funny, funny... a comedy that was educational. And SURPRISING!! I'm not gonna spill the beans... but you need to BE READY for ANYTHING in that show. I was laughing out loud!


Then we headed into the belly of the museum. A 3 hour tour (could have been longer!) all full of biblical history. There were very lifelike wax figurines, many charts to read, lots of information. TV's running short movie snippets. A TON of information. Every thing was very top notch. Take a look at this dinosaur. Very life like looking. Doesn't it seem like a real reptile? Remember -- you can click on the photo to enlarge it -- if you dare. LOL


There were some hands on things for the kiddos to touch. We found this little photo op out by the elevator. It seems like every square inch of the 70,000 square foot museum was in use some how.


The flood room was my favorite by far. There were computeres in there for the kiddos to do puzzles on. There were big chuncky puzzles that even Wayne and Danielle could get their hands on.


We started into the museum about 10:30ish... Then we had to stop for lunch. If that were one thing I could change -- I would. It's hard to get out of the tour once you begin it. You either have to walk quickly to the end, or turn around and go back to the beginning against the flow of traffic. We took the 1st option. We quickly walked to the end. Ate our sack lunch then walked about through from the beginning to start over where we left off. If you time it correctly... you could do it all at once... Start right at 10:00 when the museum opens, or wait until after lunch to start.

At 3:00 we went to a lecture. Now -- I must say -- 3:00 in the afternoon... after staying up until 11:40 playing C.O.D.A. the night before -- after we ate a big picnic lunch... not the best time for a lecture. It was interesting... the parts I was AWAKE for was Very intriguing. :giggle: Please don't thing that the speaker was to blame. He was very engaging... just... I was a bit sleepy... I needed to get some water squirt in my face... that may have kept me awake... Oh shhh... I promised not to spill the beans.

After my nap -- oh... after Mr. Riddle was done speaking we headed over to the Dragon Hall -- or the book store, in laymen's terms. That would be a very easy place to go over board -- I would LOVE to fill up our church library with all that STUFF!! Ü Dan had given the kiddos an allowance -- some spent their $$ here... others were holding out for what was to come the next day.



Tomorrow -- the Kentucky Horse Park!!

My Favorite Family

Our favorite dentist took this photo RIGHT before the batteries went dead. This is the one and only. Apparently he's multi-talented.



THANKS Dr. E.



Isn't that back ground Gorgeous!! I hope their photo turned out just as well. (Eekk!! I took that one... )

Remember Mom -- you can click directly on the photo to enlarge it.

Day 1 of Creation Museum

They welcome us -- how nice. Heritage Home Educators. Tricia is our field trip organizer -- this is a field trip. Some field trip, huh? Wowza... so cool. I think we are blessed to have Tricia in our group. She got the trip planned. Got us a group rate to a snazzy motel. She's really great! Plus -- she left after us and BEAT us to Kentucky. LOL

Here we are. All 34 of us. 22 of them were kiddos. (That really made it nice... all my kids had built in playmates for this vacation.)


We split the Creation Museum visit into 2 days. So day 1 we visited the planetarium first. That was fantastic. It was sometimes above my head... well - the show was ALWAYS above my head physically, but sometimes intellectually as well.

After that we headed outside.

We visited a petting museum. Here is Tim -- talking to a camel. One fun thing about vacationing with other families is that you get to know them better. I'd only waved at Tim before, I think. Or smiled at him perhaps. But his dear daughter MayLee and my dear daughter Dani LUV each other. So we spent a lot of time with Tim and Angie. What a blessing for us. We like them too!




The outdoor gardens were beautiful! Angie went to Iowa State University and studied... something... horticulture. Does that sound right? So we really learned a lot while we were out there. My kiddos enjoyed the swinging bridge.



All around the nature trail there were these figures. Wire shapes filled with moss. Angie things they will grow vine plants all over them some day. I tend to agree. I think the nature trail is a work in progress. That means we'll HAVE to return to see if we were right. LOL I was impressed enough with the Creation Museum, that I would say we should return. And I would feel very comfortable recommending the museum to other families.


There was a very big pond in between the indoor Museum and the nature trail. These lotuses were in bloom all around. Beautiful. This one has the seed pod in the middle of the bloom.
I think my Wayne loved the "creek" running through the gardens best. It sounded heavenly. The nature trail was -- I can't think of enough adjectives... beautiful. Lovely. It was lovely.



After the first day at the museum -- all the families went their different ways. Some went to Toys "R" Us. Some went to go swimming. Others -- they went to rent a mini-van that had air conditioning. That would be US! Whew... we are spoiled. We really like air conditioning... and nothing makes you realize that more than a conversion van with NO air conditioning in July.

So -- we headed to the air port -- and got us a vehicle. Praise the Lord. There was a family who wanted to rent a vehicle that was more reliable then what they drove in Iowa. Interestingly enough -- since the flooding so recently -- they couldn't find anything. We were thankful that we found something so easily.

We headed back to the motel -- several of the kiddos were wanting to SWIM!

While swimming -- us ladies who were planning on eating out hatched a plan. We wanted to eat together. We'd let our husbands decide where.

We got out of the pool -- and off we went to the Tumbleweed. I did NOT stay on my eating plan, needless to say. But my chimichanga was delish!! They have sweet tea at restaurants in the south friends. Oh -- I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. AND -- it's nothing like Iowa McDonald's sweet tea. It's the real thing. Oh wowza... once again -- not really on my plan... but you know -- it was VACATION!!! Apparently vacation means no self control. What I drank in Kentucky -- stays in Kentucky (well -- now that I blogged about it... that's really not true -- is it).

After dinner -- I challenged the group to a game of C.O.D.A. I hear they aren't making this game any more. So I take extra special care of this game -- we put it up high out of kiddos reach. Yeah -- I know it's the kid's game... what 'cha gonna do about it? I like it -- I'm the queen of C.O.D.A. LOL Not really... I usually win the first game. Then when everyone else gets the hang of it -- I get hammered... but you know... I love to egg people on. Especially my competitive friends Travis and Robin. 2 of us had rooms that joined... so the adults played a nice friendly game or two of C.O.D.A. and the kiddos watch Star Wars on the big screen TV in the other room.




Some lasting longer then others. Won't they LOVE this photo when they are 18. :giggle:

Day 1 had come to an end.

My Favorite Rest Area

We got an early start on our trip Sunday Morning. I had all the bags packed. I made breakfast burritos to heat up and eat in the car. Lah lah lah... we were doing great. On the road by 6:30 a.m.

Wait -- who has the cell phone? Not me... Not you... then who?

Oh me -- so we got a great 2nd start around 8:00. lah lah lah... we were doing great.

Mommm.... I've gotta go.

Well -- good timing -- here is a rest stop. We had made it to the other side of Iowa City -- took a look at the Iowa River... it didn't look too swollen. We didn't see much damage. Look at this rest stop -- isn't it beatiful? I think I see Quilt Squares on the buildings. How beautiful... oh wait -- I can't really see for sure... there is too much smoke.

SMOKE!!!???!!!

Yep -- smoke... rolling out from under the hood. Oh me.

Well -- take a look for yourself -- isn't this rest area beautiful?

We should know -- we stopped here for 5 hours on Sunday.



Here are our friends. Tricia -- she is such a sweetie... she was traveling with out her husband so I offered our company. She could ride along with us. "No - you all are leaving way too early." Yeah -- tell me about it.

So when she pulled in she was surprised to see US! Hey -- did you leave at 0:dark thirty?

Um yeah... we did... now it's almost lunch time -- we think we'll eat a picnic here. And you? Yeah -- sounds like a good idea. She was planning on taking it slow and relaxed.


So we had a relaxed lunch. She packed up and left and we enjoyed the beautiful rest area some more. LOL We left before her and she's going to beat us there.

Did I mention we were going on a field trip with our Home School Group? We were all planning on meeting up in Kentucky to tour the Creation Museum together. All of us were leaving at different times. That's an interesting fact. We all left at different times... just keep that in mind.

Anyway -- Dan's family is mechanically inclined. I'm so very glad. While we were waiting I got some school done with the kiddos -- I was able to totally relax and enjoy myself. Praise God for husbands.

He called his brother -- who has a trailer -- he called his Dad who has a van. Randy hauled Delano's van up to the rest area -- and we were going to borrow that van for the ride to Kentucky -- then he took our smokey van home.


Bye Ruby. :wave: It's been fun... see ya soon... maybe.

See that man in the white t-shirt? He is Dan's uncle. Uncle Dick and Aunt Jo stopped to visit us at our humble rest area. They were on their way home to Illinois -- traveling I-80. They thought maybe they would be of some help. No worries... Dan had it under control. So we chatted... when Uncle Randy arrived, Uncle Dick and Dan helped unload the loaner van, and load up the smoky van.

HEY -- look it there -- who do we see? JUST as Ruby the smoky van gets loaded here comes another family we are meeting up with in Kentucky. They waited until their church was over before leaving. Yeah -- I know... MUCH later than we left.

We decide to follow them to Kentucky.

Here we go... We stop once for gas. Get some ARBYS sandwiches... then drive until we get to the motel.

Praise God for portable DVD's, MP3 players and rechargeable batteries.

Hey -- we made it -- and who did we pull in behind??? Tricia!?!

She did take it slow and relaxed. She left the rest area 2 hours ahead of us -- but pulled into the drive 2 minutes ahead of us. Funny. We all 3 left at different times... and arrived together.

We met up with 3 others families the next morning for the museum. Then the fun began!