Mammoth Caves

One of our favorite places to explore is Mammoth Caves.

Its about 1/4 mile long with four chambers and a total of 2,200 feet of lava tubes. It was formed by cooling lava and flowing water less than 2,000 years ago. (science lesson for the day ) Its located about 30 minutes to the east of us in the mountains. Which also makes it the perfect place to go in the summer to cool off.

We took one of our good friends and his kids Ryland and Savanna (or as Kolby calls them Ryan and Sabanna)

The kids got to wear head lamps and explore a dark cave..... what more can a kid ask for. Luke our no fear child was in heaven.

Being a cave it was pitch black which made for some fun pics

For this picture everyone turned off their lights and just used the flash on the camera. Amazing that everyone is sort of looking in the right direction.

It was a great learning opportunity for the kids. Orange, white, and black rocks to look at. Plus all kinds of nooks and coves and large "rooms" to explore. We have had record amounts of water this past year. Parts of the caves looked like crystals in the wall but it was water drops all over the place. Unfortunately it also meant we did not make it all the way through the cave. Towards the end it turned into a mud bog. I made the executive decision to turn around and go back the way we had come. No way was I having seven people covered head to toe in mud after crawling out of a cave, climbing into my car. I know I'm no fun at all.

We missed doing the caves last year so the last time we went we had to carry the boys. This year they both walked their own selves through the whole thing.

Sunlight!!

Since we were in the mountains we stopped to have a picnic. The boys (including Dew) can't miss an opportunity to roast a hot dog.

Kolby's face looks happy and because he did not act sick in any way the whole time Dew and I were a little unprepared for when he did get sick and have a few accidents. I won't get into too many details but because this is our family journal this has to be shared and sure to be laughed about in years to come.

1. We will now always have a change or two of clothes in the car.

2 Sometimes its better to throw everything away shoes included.

3. Dewey can make clothes out of a recycle fabric shopping bag. (you know the kind you always keep in the car because your going to use them for grocery shopping but then never take them into the store with you)

Yep good times!

Happy to say whatever bug Kolby had he is over it now and never did say he didn't feel good or act like he was sick.
But other than that a fun little getaway.