I was just talking to my dear cousin Tanya over the phone, and when I told her I was attempting to catch up on my blog (from almost two weeks ago now) this afternoon- she had the right answer... I don't recall her exact words but something along the lines that my blog doesn't have a schedule and I write my blog when I have time... well put Tanya- I haven't had time... or maybe I haven't made time... but either way my blog is meant to be something that is relaxing for me and not another stressor in my life. So, I'm "two weeks behind" oh well :)
So, recently... (two Sunday's ago) Luke, Steven and I took ourselves on a field trip to, dun dun dun...
CAVE OF THE MOUNDS
I don't remember exactly why, but Steven was over tired and quite crabby that Sunday morning (If I remember right it was daylight savings and he woke up at 4:30 in the morning to play) and he did not want to go to Cave of the Mounds ("whatever that place is") to save his life! He tried to convince us that he had already been there when he was "little" and he did not like it at all! He wanted to watch TV, and go to the park that day and he wasn't happy with us that he didn't get to decide what we were doing- so very unhappy that he actually cried. Tough tootles we told him and off we went. Luke and I have been planning to take him there since last summer, but we were always too busy camping or doing something else fun that we never made it... and reality was finally beginning to set in- with two babies on the way, my belly is growing bigger and bigger...fast! So fast that I thought if we waited even a couple more weeks to go on this field trip I wouldn't be able to fit through the narrow passages they take tours through... Off we went!
If you have ever been to Cave of the Mounds you know that the very first part of the tour starts out with a film explaining the history of the cave, in a dark room-which caused Steven to get a little nervous about going in the cave but we convinced him that it wasn't actually scary and he should give it a try. Once we got down the first set of stairs I think he had a smile on his face for the rest of the tour.
Oh, and the quality of our pictures totally stinks because even though we remembered to bring our really nice fancy camera along on this outing, we left it in the car. HA! Thankfully my phone has a decent camera and we at least have pictures to share.
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| Luke and Steven heading down the first set of stairs into the cave |
Pictures of inside the cave
(here is some of what we saw)
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| Flow stone |
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| the end of the cave in one direction |
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The "Red light" which signifies the lowest depth of the cave
which is also directly below the flag pole (see picture below) |
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| Steven and I attempting to take a decent picture |
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| Steven peaking at part of the cave |
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| attempted family photograph |
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| Attempt number 2.... |
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| looking at the lifeline of the cave (on the ceiling) |
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| Looking up at some stalactites |
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| Another failed family photo ;) |
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| The left over trunk of a broken off stalagmite |
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| Steven!!! |
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| A chuck of stalactites broken off and laying on the ground facing up |
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| Luke and Steven standing in front of a beautiful view of stalactites and stalagmites |
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| Here is Steven and I |
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| A "column" where the stalactites and stalagmites grew together |
After our tour, we looked around the gift shop and Steven decided he wanted to buy a bag of sand and rocks and mine for fossils...
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| this is "the treasure" he found |
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| nice fall day- here are some leaves I thought were pretty |
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the flag pole which is directly above the red light in the cave-
I can't remember exactly how many feet below this point
we actually were- but it was quite substantial |
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A half-way successful family photograph to end the trip before walking to the car
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So, as we were leaving Steven was very grateful for our field trip to Cave of the Mounds! He said thank you over and over and asked if we could come back again soon because he liked it so much. He had a lot of fun, and learned new things too :) Luke and I had a lot of fun too!
After leaving the cave we headed to Gail and Gib's (Luke's Mom and Step-Dad) house to have dinner with them, which is always fun and delicious. We did Steven's homework before we left (in fear that he would fall asleep in the car on the way home- which he indeed did) and got home just in time for bedtime. Luke and I relaxed and headed to bed early too. Regardless of the daylight savings time we were both exhausted as usual.
If you would like to learn more about Cave of the Mounds or actually see some "quality" pictures of the cave you can visit:
http://caveofthemounds.com/
I highly recommend taking the tour, it is really quite an amazing and beautiful Wisconsin treasure.
More updates coming soon!!
