The past few days

The campsite we've been staying at didn't have wireless internet. Withour further ado, here are Days 5, 6, and 7:


Once upon a time there was a little girl who wasn't afraid of anything and one time her family went on a Red-Neck RV trip.
Day Five started WAY too early, with Abby being sick in her bed at 4:15 am. So, if you're keeping track, that's a poopy day for Abby on Day 3, a poopy AND a pukey day for Josh on Day 4 and a pukey day for Abby on Day 5. Hopefully everyone is over the cruds, cause this is getting gross!!!
Everyone is very excited about the BIG DAY!!! After putting all the cruddy clothes in the laundry and getting the kids showered, Mommy got showered. While she was still in the shower room, Nana, Mimi, Lesa, Minette and THE BRIDE came to visit at the RV camp. They all wanted to see where the red-necks were staying. Mommy headed off to the church with Heidi and Minette to get ready. Daddy stayed at the camp with the kids, and got to experience the Camper Shower, where the directions were to "rinse, turn off the water, lather, rinse, turn off the water..." :-) Then Daddy and the kids went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa.
Abby and Grandma came to the church to get ready and get the dress ready (respectively). Pictures were scheduled for 2pm. The wedding scheduled for 4pm. Pictures went without too much fuss - one bridesmaid was late, and one of the men's bouteniers was broken. But the "Mommy MacGyvers" figured out a solution.
All too soon, it was TIME. Everyone was in place and the bride was Beautiful!!! The ceremony was lovely and then it was time for more pictures. Then off to the reception to PARTY!!! The blessing was said, the head table ate and then there was the toasts and the cutting of the cake (yummy CHOCOLATE!). Then the DJ kicked it up a notch and the party moved out onto the dancefloor.
By 9pm, the kids were still having a good time - running on pure adrenaline (and M&Ms), but it was time for BED!! They said their goodbyes to the bride and groom and headed back to the RV lot. Everyone got changed and into jammies and went straight to bed. It had been a very big day!
Congratulations, Heidi and Scott!!


Once upon a time there was a little girl who wasn't afraid of anything and one time her family went on a Red-Neck RV trip.
Day Six - Vacation Part 2
Day six began early, again. This time because of Day Lights Savings time (beginning or ending, I dunno!) We think we got up around 6:15. Mommy took a quick shower to wash out the loads of hairspray that had kept her very cool "do" up the day before (BTW, 30 bobby pins - yes, I counted). The family was packed and ready by 8am (or was it 7?). We called Grandpa and arranged to meet at the hotel for G&G to follow Mommy to the rental car place to return the car. Back at the RV camp, Daddy was getting everything squared away and feeding the kids their breakfast. By the time Mommy, Grandma, and Grandpa returned, we were ready to roll.
Cue: "On the Road Again"
This time, our route took us through downtown St. Louis and we got many, MANY pictures of the big Arch. Way cool. Then it was miles, and miles, and miles...of driving. Back through Illinois (with a stop 20 miles in for lunch with Grandma and Grandpa), a quick corner of Indiana and then into Kentucky. Other than a wild goose chase looking for a gas station, the trip was VERY uneventful. Daddy listened to some football games (Go Bills!) and the kids watched a movie and othewise harassed each other. Mommy was looking for the emergency exit :-)
We rolled into our KOA around 5:30 (or was it 4:30?) and Daddy took the kids to the play ground while Mommy made dinner. Since we hadn't stopped at the grocery store (as was part of the original plan), we had leftover spaghetti and the kids had Easy Mac. After dinner, Daddy built a fire and we sat around and enjoyed being outdoors. The weather was fabulous. Then we had a treat - popcorn (!) popped over the campfire! Yes, the directions explicitly say "Do not use over open flame", but whatever! It took awhile (and caught on fire once), but it sure did taste good.
After popcorn, it was time for bed. And the kids finally brushed their teeth for the first time since we left home. (Eww!)


Once upon a time there was a little girl who wasn't afraid of anything and one time her family went on a Red-Neck RV trip.
Day Seven - Mammoth Cave, Kentucky
So, guess what - today started early, like the last few days. But today was especially early since we still didn't really know what time it was here. Abby was awake by, what we thought was, 6:50. Alarm was set for 7, so we figured, okay, let's start our day. We had a light breakfast (granola bars) and got ready to go to Mammoth Cave National Park. Decided to stop by the KOA store on the way out - sign said it was open at 8am. It was 8:30 as far as we knew, so all was good. Except the store wasn't open. What's up with that? So, Daddy whipped out the trusty Blackberry and did some research. Turns out Western Kentucky is in the CENTRAL time zone and Eastern Kentucky is in the Eastern Time Zone, and the time zone switches about a mile up the road from us. SO, it was really 5:50 when Abby got up, and we were heading out for our trip at 7:30 am. And Mammoth Cave National Park didn't open until 8:45. So we headed out and did our grocery shopping instead (funny thing - store didn't open until 8:00 - ARG!)
FINALLY, we arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park. We looked around and got tickets for a 9:15 tour. It was the only tour that was suitable for the kids - not too many stairs or climbing involved. That was pretty cool. We saw all kinds of stalactites and stalagmites and columns (they're usually called pillars, but in this neck of the woods, that's what folks sleep on at night). It was really, really neat. Then we went back to the Visitor's Center and walked down to the Historic Entrance and then back up to the Mammoth Cave Hotel. Finally we headed back to the RV for lunch (PB&J) and planned the rest of the day.
After lunch, we made a quick trip back to the Visitor's Center and Hotel to get the kid's National Park Passport stamped and the buy some souveniers; then we headed out to another Cave. The kids took a short nap while we traveled (it was about a mile away, but we made the trip last about 20 minutes!) This one was called Diamond Caverns. And it was much more touristy. Also a very neat cave and lots of geological information, but this one was more lit up and more "scenic". We took LOTS of pictures at both places.
By 2:30 we were done, and I mean, DONE! We headed back to the KOA and got hooked up again so we could turn on a movie for the kids. They watched Toy Story and Daddy and Mommy relaxed. Then we started dinner (BBQ chicken (not cooked on the grill, because, oh did I forget to mention, it started raining - our first "bad weather") with potatoes and salad). It turned out quite nice, if I do say so myself. After we ate dinner, we looked at the clock - mistake! It wasn't even 5:15 and we were done with dinner already. Now what?! And it's dark outside already, too! So, we hung out for a bit, then took a walk down the road to the Souvenier/Quilt shop, which was closed. So we continued down the road to the gas station/convenience store and purchased a Coca-Cola! Stopped at the KOA store on the way back up. And then got back to the RV. By then it was 6:30. We rationalized that it is 7:30 where we're going tomorrow, and the kids DID get up very early and they DIDN'T have much of a nap, so it was bed time. By 7pm (local time), the kids were in bed and it was time for Mommy and Daddy to take showers and feel clean again (too much cave dirt!)