Vacation day 3 - Start with C, ends with O, and has hicag in the middle

And zero percent of the people reading this have any idea where that came from.

Here we sit in Chicago. How did we get here?

We woke up around 7 in Jeffersonville, Indiana and ate breakfast. Then, we went back south about 3 miles to the Louisville Slugger museum and factory tour? How long does it take you to go 3 miles? Took us about an hour since one of the 3 bridges that crosses the Ohio River was shut down on Friday due to concerning cracks. Comforting. No big deal for us though. We toured and saw how bats get made and we even got free souvenir mini-bats which, as a low end guess, will be taken away from Drew and Ben 10 times in their lives when they are used as weapons.

After that it was a 3 hour drive when we stopped halfway and hung out in Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue) and stopped at Columbiana Park and Zoo which is a pretty awesome gigantic playground and free small zoo in the middle of a town that feels a bit like Humboldt. No mailboxes, near as I can tell the mailman walks around drops stuff off at the doors. Anyway, at the zoo you could walk through the wallaby exhibit, pet goats, pigs, miniature horses, llamas, and chickens depending on which animals stand still. Otters, peacocks, monkeys, and a couple of other animals.

Ate at sam's club because they have big pizza for little money and we have 3 voracious children. High society stuff for us.

Back in the car for about 2 hours, ending up in Chicago. The previous post showed the giant windmills we passed. Must have been thousands of them dotting the farmland and the pictures don't accurately convey how weird it is to drive past them.

Ended in the Chicago outskirts at a Best Western - Chicagoland Countryside. Yay, the land that gave us Barack Obama. I'll have to show my heartfelt gratitude to every person I see (Sarcasm mode off). Went and found a pretty cool playground/park to kill an hour at night and played the best game of pretend baseball ever.

We'll have to post the video of Drew at the Louisville Slugger museum swinging against 90 MPH pitches. good grief, baseball appears to be his natural sport.

Tomorrow is another day. Wrigley tour, aquarium. Who knows what else.

Wind farms

Well I found these a bit creepy - they are everywhere you look and gigantic and spinning.  It feels like alien land to me but drew likes them because "they are so big".  Kate thinks they are cool.  When I as ked Ben what he thought about them, he looked at them, smiled, and said "playground."

Vacation day 2 - more steps than you can shake a stick at

And day 2 is now in the books as we all recline at Comfort Suites Jeffersonville for the night. What did we do today?

Mammoth Caves Natl Park, the new entrance tour. Kate was a little apprehensive at first with the potential for ceiling collapse, but she became comfortable with it about halfway through thanks to the tour guide. Drew really enjoyed the first half, especially the climbing and exploring. Halfway through, he got pretty cranky. Instead of being freaked out by the cave, turns out he was tired. He fell asleep for the last half. Same with Ben.

Hey Ben, if you are reading this in about 20 years, you need to remember your mom is tough as nails. She carried you, often while you slept, through the entire tour in some very tiny crevasses.

After that, back in the car and we drove off to Lincoln's birthplace which was pretty fun. Got to see his cabin, some stuff from his youth, etc. Good time. kate and Drew got to be junior rangers at each park. Good for Ben too, as he got to run around and burn off energy.

Kentucky was pretty much non stop rain and dripping, somewhat the same for the little slice of Indiana we have now seen. We went to the main city park in downtown Louisville for a bit, saw a steamboat, the gigantic Ohio river, and more thunderstorms that cut our time short.

And, in a Phelan family first, we ate dinner at McDonald's. There was sort of a dearth of places to choose from. Dad would be horrified at us not trying the local flavor. Turns out we are a lot more comfortable with known, cheap options.

Waterfront park Louisville

Beautiful...

Beginning of soccer season and day one of vacation

Two, two, two events in one. pics for this and other vacation related posts will probably follow in a couple of weeks.

First game of the soccer season for both Kate and Drew today. Kate scored twice after taking a little while to get into the swing of things. But, she tried hard, picked her spots well, and attacked.

Drew did well in his game. A little more hesitant than we had expected from his practices, but probably first game jitters. He is easily the youngest in the league. No goals, but played hard and had a couple of nice saves in goal.

And then directly on to vacation. We had an awesome time getting past the 85/285 interchange thanks to the entire exit being under construction. But, once we got going time flew quickly. We stopped at Cloudland Canyon state park and hiked to the bottom of two waterfalls. Quite fun. There was a wedding going on at a scenic overlook. Kate liked that idea. Drew said that he decided that we would marry Laura Scott and that looked like a good place. Guess Katie has been replaced at least momentarily. Drew said Laura is good to marry since she always is funny.

Kate may have a new favorite place to hang out, the base of the upper falls. I think she really liked hanging out there and just staring at it.

Ben was ballast. He slept in the car, but far less than he needed.

Back in the car for another 4 hours up to Mammoth Cave where we are spending the night. The kids were wired for sound at the hotel, mainly because they think hotels are cool. Sherri and I think they are unfortunately necessary germ holes.

All asleep now, good day. Spelunking tomorrow, then some other stuff.

Drew's Four Year Checkup

Daddy took Drew to his 4 year check-up (since he would be getting so many shots).  He was very nervous that morning, but he apparently only whimpered when he got his shots - such a tough guy.  Here are the stats from the check-up:

Height: 41.5"

Weight: 36 lbs 6oz

When I plugged this information, along with the tall parent information, Drew is predicted to be 6'5" when he turns 18.  Then I realized that Chris grew 2 more inches after age 18...

Daddy took Drew to Chick-fil-a for a milkshake (he chose strawberry) to celebrate his bravery.

Hiking Trip - September 2-3, 2011 Pt 3

More pictures...

Hiking Trip - September 2-3, 2011 Pt 2

More pictures...

Hiking Trip - September 2-3, 2011 Pt 1

We went to the mountain house for the first time in a long time and we decided we would see if Kate and Dylan were tough enough to hike Siler Bald.  It's 4-4.5 miles to the top and the last part is a steep incline that really tests your mental toughness.  Granddad suggested that the kids hike the short (1.5 mile) side with him to the top while Chris and I hiked the longer side, but Kate and Dylan (especially Kate) insisted that they wanted to do the harder side.  We made them promise that they would not complain that they were tired and let them know that the car would be 6 miles away on the other side of the mountain, so stopping was not an option.  Once they agreed and were sure they would do the hard one, we set off.  Kate tripped and fell on a tree root right away and then hopped up and kept going like the tough girl she is.  They clearly got tired closer to the top (we all did), but Kate didn't complain - she just kept saying that she could do it and that she was almost there.  I couldn't have been prouder of her mental toughness.  When we got to the top, she rested and had a little snack and then wanted to hop back up and explore the top with Mommy and Daddy.  She had trouble choosing the right rocks/roots to step on and tripped several times on the way down, but she would just hop back up and keep going.  She's one tough girl!

The next day, we hiked up Blood Mountain and Drew wanted to come too.  It's a tough 2.5 mile hike with lots of rocky portions that require big and careful steps, but there are several very rewarding lookouts at the top.  About halfway, Drew melted down saying that he wanted to ride in the backpack.  We told him to keep going, hoping that he could make it a little further before Daddy had to carry him in the backpack.  Kate and I hiked on ahead and Daddy and Drew went at their own pace.  Daddy said they told lots of stories and Drew became focused and kept at it.  He received lots of encouragement and inspired lots of hikers who were on their way down with his toughness and determination, but in Drew's words, "I couldn't say thank you because I was too nervous."  He made it to the top all by himself not too long after we made it.  We were very impressed.  I should also mention that Kate and Dylan did fantastic - especially for as hard as this hike was with their legs still very tired from the day before.  Kate stopped lots of times along the way just to enjoy God's creation and to comment about how much she loves hiking.  Once again, she fell many times on the way down, but she continued to remain tough and determined. Drew rode in the backpack down on Daddy's back and was so tired that he fell asleep in the pack during the hike down.  

During the trip (which was shortened by a day due to heavy rains coming in), we also fit in a trip to the "beach" at the lake, where Kate, Dylan, and Drew spent their whole time "building the Nile" in the wet sand and dumping buckets of water over it.  Ben spent most of his time playing in the sand (he cried when his feet hit the sand because he didn't like the feeling), but he went in the water with Daddy toward the end.  

We were also able to go to our favorite pizza buffet and to the Hiawassee playground where great fun was had by all.  

Oh - did I mention that Ben got very scared of the pink bear and baby from Toy Story 3 on the drive up and he got so upset he vomited?  He also got his car seat turned around like a "big boy" for the first time just before this trip.  

Drew's 4th Birthday

Drew had a very fun party at Bounce-a-Rama and enjoyed his Spiderman/Superman/Batman cake.  All his friends came and he had a blast.  Yesterday, the day before his birthday, we went to visit MaMa and Grandmother with Grandmama, Grandad, and Dylan and he opened presents there. Then, we came home and he opened presents from Gram and us.  We finally gave in on the weapons, so Drew got three Nerf guns, a couple of foam swords for the pool, and Hulk "Smash" hands. Kate spent her own money to buy him a Bat Cave and she told me that she enjoyed seeing him open it more than she enjoyed getting presents herself.  He got lots of fun outdoor toys like an airplane shooter, a helicopter, and a stomp rocket, along with some great action figures and even a fishing set.  Today, he gets a day off of school and chores and can play or watch tv all he wants until his soccer practice tonight (as long as he doesn't interrupt school for the others).  

Stonehenge

Only one cricket was harmed in this construction and it was purely accidental.

Too much school

Funny comments from Drew and Kate and Sweet Comment from Ben

On the way home from church today, Drew noticed that someone had a sprinkler going.  He said, "Hey - Why is someone washing their grass?"

On our first day of studying Astronomy, we were looking on my phone to see where the stars and planets were in relation to where we were.  When I pointed the phone toward Kate's head, we could see Uranus on the sky map.  Kate said, "My head's Uranus!  I never thought my head would be Uranus!"  

On the way home from a homeschool swimming party tonight, Kate and Drew were thanking us for taking them and telling us they loved us.  Ben said, "I love you too Mommy!"  That's the longest understandable sentence he's uttered so far.

Drew's Special Date

With Tony and Addie.  The Cubs won.  Their favorite thing were the racing tools in the outfield.

Kate's special date

Playing dress up at the store and then ihop