We need to buy a cigarette for our first aid kit!

Ok, so the day we visited Francie and the girls was a day of great fun. When we first arrived the kids were able to play in the sprinklers with cousin Emily. I guess Everett thought his swimmer impeded his ability to run through the water. Love the bum!

Next day Natalie went with Emily to a friend's house to play for a little. On their way back across the street, Natalie was stung by bees THREE times. Two on her left thigh one on her right. Francie and cousin Amy came to the rescue, applying wet tobacco (thanks to a neighbor's cigarette) and covering with a band-aid for half an hour. After the half hour passed, Amy removed the band-aids and tobacco, gently scraped with a credit card to remove any remaining stinger. The miracle of it all, those stings did not swell at all! They remained three little red dots. I was AMAZED. I had been stung last year driving home from the lake. The thing stung my inner thigh, which subsequently reddened, hardend, swelled, and burned for well over a week. Had I known about tobacco's healing powers I would have never suffered so. Natalie with three stings played as though nothing happened (once all the crying and shock wore off).

Thanks to the girls for the lesson learned.

Land Between the Lakes

We spent a day at Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes. We spent time at an 1850's (all original building just relocated to one site) Living Farm/Homestead. That was fun. We also visited a Wildlife and Nature Center--housing injured animals and birds. We did take a bison/elk tour although we did not see a single one--too hot for them. To finish the day we ate at Patti's, a 5star retaurant. We ordered the 2" pork chops--what they are most famous for.

Granny Boyd

We had such an enjoyable time visiting with Dan's Granny Boyd and Jeannie. Dan spent A LOT of his time growing up at Papa and Granny Boyd's home. They were basically a third set of grandparents to him. Thanks to them, for had it not been for them we would not have half the pictures we have of Daniel as a baby/toddler/small child.

Dan interviewed them and we had a yummy lunch--"beef manhattan" and fried okra.

Mammoth Cave...Finally!

So both Dan and I had been to the National Park before, but to have it count on our quest, the kids have to be involved. We went back (yes, a third time) and hiked the most kid friendly one (1.5 hours) because it was the ONLY hike left to choose from. Natalie is our trooper. When back in AZ (she was about 3-5) we would hike BIG TIME, sometimes ALL day long, and she would hike EVERY step of the way. Everett we would carry in the Ergo. But Natalie would walk/hike it all. I remember hiking a Natural Bridges hike at Capital Reef NP and a group of older people were using their hiking/walking sticks and were laughing at the fact that this little girl was hiking along side us. She really is great at all the outdoor things we do. Anyway, we plan on going back to Mammoth Cave next time we are in KY and do MUCH longer/better hike. Everett slept in the car (Danny and Debbie stayed with him--Danny just had foot surgery and was in no condition to brave the deep).

Kentucky Down Under!

We visited an Australian Wildlife Park one day with Danny and Debbie. It was such a great park and ran shows all days long teaching about life in the Australian continent. They also had a tour through a cave. We learned a lot. The kids really enjoyed it, although it was terribly (welcome to the South) humid! Yuck!

KY Family Times!

We spent a week in KY visiting family. Most of the time was spent with Dan's side of the family although we did squeeze one day in for Francie and the girls. Check out another post for info on that visit.

We had several cookouts with family. Dan was able to go back after being away for 5 years (tough to go back when in AZ). We had a nice time just being together.

Mammoth Cave...Ha!

Once again, yes, Dan and I did this once before, we drove to Mammoth Cave only to find that all the tours had been sold out and we would not be able to hike in the cave. You think we'd learn the first time. So here was our second attempt. Some deer along the way. Later, you will see that we WERE successful, finally.