AL, TN & KY

  We had a blast in Alabama with our oil family!   We usually park 45 minutes away at a huge lake, but this time, found a little local spot for our short stay in Huntsville.....

  Our friends and business partners there, Darren & Angel, always bless us with the most AMAZING meal. They are from Fiji and have ALL the good recipes!!!!  This time it was curry and rice, holy amazing.  The kids had a ball playing outside, while the adults visited.

  Sweet Darren surprised me with MY FAVORITE.....Rosie's Salsa!!! The BEST Mexican out there, for serious.  I may or may not have rocked this jug and held it like a baby! ;) (and then ate it for my meals everyday! haha)

 Then it was time to work!  Angel and her team did a FABULOUS job filling each class....we had a ball!  Lots of new oilers coming to Huntsville! :)

  We even got to have a Rosie's Fajita dinner after our second night of classes, thanks to Darren dropping it off after work.  SO thoughtful!

 I loved getting to hang out with Angel and Kathryn more before we left town..... 

  The next morning, the students of 4 Oaks Academy finished their school year.....WAHOO!

​Time to celebrate!

  We let the kids pick wherever they wanted to go from dinner to CELEBRATE.....

  Is it any surprise they picked Rosie's Mexican?!

​ You are looking at a future 3rd, 5th, 7th and Junior  in HS right here......

  Look at how they've changed since we hit the road 4 years ago, April!

  They picked the TV foodie famous, Bigfoots Little Donuts for dessert.  Hot and fresh off the line, Peaches & Cream, Honey Cinnamon and Funnel cake

   We left early the next morning to head to Franklin, TN trying to beat a line of storms....

   I just don't think we did this area any justice at all.  We sat in the parking lot in Franklin, TN for a quick oil class in the local coffee shop, and from what I hear, missed a TON of cool things to do and see.

 Next time, Franklin.  Next time.

  We always try to think of fun games to play or crafts to do during travel days.  Today was, a  stamp the playdough guessing game!  :)

   We headed to our campsite in Kentucky and got all set up....the kids were at each other, and it was pouring out, so no evening walk in the forecast.

  We decided to divide and conquer.  The girls and I would stay here with chocolate and a girly movie, and Dale would take the boys in to see the Corvette museum.  You know, the one that had a sink hole in the center at one point?

 At the last minute, Destiny decided to go along.   No problem!  Papa would be proud.  My dad was a corvette fanatic and had 17 different Vettes in his lifetime..

 I stayed behind with Avery and we decided on swiss chocolate (Thanks, Elaine!) and Little Women, the movie. Not 25 minutes later, Dale calls.....the boys were fighting and despite being warned, had just lost their privilege of going to the museum that day.  Everyone was headed back home for dinner and an evening at home.

 RUT RO!!!!  Those lessons are hard on EVERYONE involved.

  We ate dinner and headed to bed.  Tomorrow is a fresh start!

  The next day, instead of home church, we headed out to go enjoy our Creator's Creation: Mammoth Cave.

​  We had just read about this in Paxton's school books and one of my favorite Christian Fictions, so it was perfect timing.

Mammoth Cave National Park Facts:

  Mammoth Cave National Park is a 52,830 acre park located in the state of Kentucky in the United States. It is named after the cave it partially encompasses, called Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System, which is the world's longest known cave system. Native Americans have inhabited the cave region for at least 6,000 years. It is believed that the first Europeans to discover the cave system did so in the late 1700s, although it is not known if it was Francis Houchin or his brother John Houchin who officially made the discovery. In 1941 Mammoth Cave National Park was officially established. 

  There are a variety of different tours available, all varying in sites, length and exertion. They range from 2 -6 hours in length, all offering an incredibly memorable experience. A few of the more popular tours are Frozen Niagara, Fat Man’s Misery, Domes & Dripstones and the Grand Avenue.  

  The main Grand Ave tour was sold out, note you will need to book FAR in advance for this one!
  We picked a moderate difficulty 2 hour tour, Domes & Dripstones, and hung out in the free museum while we waited for the buses.

  I was just fine until I read all the warnings associated with this tour about those fearing heights and suffering from claustrophobia......

​Ho boy!

 So glad for this bad boy.

 Balance is wonderful for times when you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or just feeling anxious about something.  It's also good for days kids cannot focus or sit still!
  It's grounding and centering and smells wonderful! I dosed myself in it while we waited.  

Ahhhh much better! Now if I get nervous, I can sniff my wrist. 

  We arrived at the cave entrance and the descent down began.......and kept going and going and going.

 I have never gone down so many  dark, damp, steep, slippery stairs in my life!  Avery's eyes were HUGE and her teeth were chattering! 

  The formations are incredible and vary in size, color and size. The Drapery Room looks like pleated drapes in a pale limestone. The Snowball Room has the appearance of hundreds of snowballs, varying in size. Frozen Niagara looks like a waterfall, frozen in time. These are just a few of the unique formation waiting to be seen at Mammoth Cave. Each area seems to be a doorway into another new world of shapes, colors, sizes and creatures.
source

    When you are done with your descent from the cave, you walk through this nasty soapy stuff that gets your socks wet.  It is supposed to help you from spreading a disease to other places since its present in the mammoth cave bats.

  Since we were so close to the Corvette museum, Dale decided to take the boys to it, attempt 2. He dropped the girls off at the mall and took off.  It was fun!

  Avery found some cute magnetic earrings. She wants to get her ears pierced so bad, but we are looking for some improvement in responsibility and clean up first, so these will do.

  We pulled out the next day for Ohio! 
    BUT, not all travel days are fun and relaxing.......

​  Let's do a little travel day math, shall we?
 
  30 ounces of water x 5 Ferguson stainless steel cups = 150 oz of cold refreshing water

 ADD to that equations, the Mother of ALL POTHOLES and that equals....

  Over a GALLON of water flying out of said cups, and rushing all over the floor and under slides! 
??????

BONUS: We lost all our dash gauges too. But never fear, Mr. Fix It is on the job!

Hidden blessings:
*The floor will be oh so clean when we stop tonight.

*My cup jumped across two open laptops before spilling. Thanks, Lord!

*We may never know why the Lord needed us off the road that 30 minutes but we trust it!
* askdsf
*Dale got it fixed and we are back on the road again!

OHIO - Here we come :)

Hugs, T