Time for a Much Needed Family Vacation

This year has been so busy...wonderful, but very busy. So we waited until the very last week of the year to use our second week of vacation. We had an amazing time together! I kind of felt like my mom and dad...we went to several state parks along the way like we used to do when I was a child! While we were still in Murfreesboro Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Stones River National Battlefield...Pepaw and Grandma Sue live right beside it and we've driven by it so many times, we've just never stopped. The boys were intrigued by the cannons and we talked about slavery and the cause of the Civil War...it was a great learning experience.

We woke up Monday morning and headed out early on our trip to the Cincinatti area. On the way, we drove by the signs for Mammoth Cave in KY, and decided to stop. As a child, our family lived near there and we toured the caves several times...I thought it would be a lot of fun, and so did the boys...we just didn't realize how cold it would be! One of the neatest things was that as we were exiting the cave a large group of our soldiers were heading in for a tour...we were able to thank them as we walked by...I'm so grateful for all they sacrifice in order for us to enjoy the safety and freedom we have.
After that we headed on toward the KY, Ohio, Indiana area where we planned on spending the next several days. We realized that the Creation Museum was only a few miles from where we were staying...all those years planning the ski trip and we never realized it! So I called to get some info...with the boys being 5 and 3 we didn't know how long they'd last, but I had prayed that God would allow us to have this experience...and guess what!? When I called they were running a special night admission price where you could go from 5 -9 for a lot less...God provides! It was incredible and very well done...a 70,000 sq.ft museum that really brings the Bible to life! They also have beautiful outdoor areas and a petting zoo! It was snowing the night we went and was so pretty out there...on our walk to the petting zoo, it was very cold, but one of the neat things that was there was "Bennett's Wallaby"...he was so excited! It's hard to verbalize how great the experience is, but I will include some pictures...you can check out their website at www.creationmuseum.org
After the museum we ate a yummy dinner at Olive Garden...delicious! Thank you to our friends, the Cooks, for the gift cards! The next morning we headed to Perfect North to ski. Last year was the first time in at least 10 years that Corey and I hadn't skied...we missed it! Caleb skied the year before last for the first time, but Bennett was too young, so this was his first time! Both of the boys went to ski school and Corey and I had a chance to ski together for about an hour...then we headed to pick the boys up and start skiing with them. Bennett got a little frustrated when he tried to ski by himself, so Corey skied with B between his knees the whole time...it was hard on his legs, but Bennett loved it! They had a great time together. Caleb was my buddy for the day, and he didn't want any help! He would have me ski down the hill a little and then he would ski to me and just fall when he was ready to stop...he did great! He even skied down a blue slope!!! He really was fearless. Kind of makes a mom nervous! We packed mats for the boys to sleep on in the lodge and had a DVD player and some books because we really didn't think they'd ski all day...we were wrong! We started around 11am and didn't stop until 7pm!!! They now included tubing in the cost of skiing, so for the last hour, we headed over to the tubing area...it was so much fun! You could hold the tubes together and we could all four ride down together or go individually...we flew down the hill! The boys were exhausted after a long day, but we grabbed some Mexican food for dinner, went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and slept really well!The next morning we loaded up and headed home for a few days to just settle back in after Christmas and vacation...we are grateful to God for the fun time we were able to have together as a family and the memories we made!