on the road (again)

Our extended family fall break Gatlinburg vacation extravaganza is finally here! We hit the road last night and made a quick stop in Indianapolis to have dinner and pick up Popi and Maria, then continued south to lovely (I'm sure; we didn't actually see that much of it in the daylight) Corydon, Indiana, and crashed at a hotel alarmingly close to some very dark railroad tracks. This morning, we made our first vacationy stop, at Marengo Cave. There were 19 of us, so we had our own private tour group.

I've been to Mammoth Cave a couple of times, and was really impressed and awed, but I have to say that Marengo Cave just blows it out of the water by comparison. It is a much more personal experience since the path winds right next to and through incredible rock formations. In some places, the rock formations bisect narrow paths, so you have to watch out ... or trip over them. We did a combination tour of two different trails, so we had two hours of looking at every different rock formation you could imagine. There was even one place where we could throw coins up at the ceiling and stick them in the stone! There were some underground ponds too, and I think those were my favorite, because they were so still and reflected the formations above them in a way that made it seem like we were looking at a big hole in the ground instead of a reflection. Even after our guide told us what we were looking at, I still had trouble processing it that way. So neat!

And now is the part where I hit you with a zillion pictures, because I just couldn't stop. Cousins! Aunts! Rocks! Even really old graffiti and an underground waterfall! Behold the splendor.

my trip to san diego (or preaching on the burning shore redux)

by Max

I had an awesome trip last week. Can you guess where I went? If you guessed San Diego, you're right! I went with Grandma, and it was so much fun. On Thursday, I got home from school and my family and I headed to the Taltree Arboretum to meet Aunt Erin, Lucy and Richie, and Grandma. We all had a blast there. But instead of going home with my family, I went back to Chicagoland with Aunt Erin and Grandma. I stayed the night in Naperville, then the next day Grandpa took Grandma and me to the airport. We got our bags checked, and although security took forever, we finally boarded the plane. The plane taking off was fun, but the rest was boring. Four hours later we arrived in San Diego! We were almost 45 minutes early, but my Uncle M and cousin G got there to pick us up.

We went back to Uncle M's house in El Cajon to change into shorts, because it was really, really blazing hot in California. Seriously, it was like 100 degrees there. After that, we attempted to go to the San Diego Botanic Garden, but traffic was so bad that we failed. We went out to dinner instead, and it was yummy. The next day, Grandma and I got up early because we were on Chicago/Indiana time, but Uncle M and G were still asleep. So Grandma and I took a walk. We saw an orange tree and almost picked an orange to bring back to Mom, but we didn't want to steal someone else's fruit.

Once Uncle M and G were up, we headed northwest to Palomar Mountain. There is an observatory there, and it was really cool. It was on top of a mountain, so you could see a long way in all directions.

After Palomar, we went back to Uncle M's house for lunch, then we went to the beach at the Pacific Ocean. I have been to the Atlantic Ocean several times, in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida, but I had not ever seen the Pacific. I was really excited. The waves were really huge, and G and I had lots of fun.

The next morning, we went off-roading in Uncle M's truck. It was fun, but Uncle M drove through a big mud puddle and turned his green truck into a brown truck. After that, we had lunch, then we drove to San Diego to see the old Navy ships like the aircraft carrier Midway. It was really big and really cool.

On our last day in California, we got up and tried again to go to the San Diego Botanic Garden, and this time we succeeded! It was really cool, with lots of cacti, flowers, succulents, and other plants we don't have back in Indiana. There was a waterfall in the middle of the gardens, and it was awesome. We took lots of pictures.

After that, we went to the airport to catch our flight back to Chicago. I had a great time, and I was sad I had to leave :(  But I was glad to get home. This was an awesome trip.

pumpkin patch

We had planned to spend this weekend in Michigan, visiting the pumpkin patch one day and Fernwood Botanical Gardens the next, but (and you know it's rare for me to say this!) we were kind of all traveled out. As a compromise, we thought we would go and spend the day today but then come home so we could have tomorrow to catch up on stuff around the house. We stopped by the cottage to see Barb and Kevin, then headed to the pumpkin patch to pick out some interesting gourds. It was sunny but surprisingly cold and windy, though, so our visit was even shorter than we thought, and we decided to skip Fernwood entirely in favor of coming home and warming up a little bit. Oh well. Sometimes we've just got to stop and take a little break. It will be good for us, especially with another trip in our immediate future...

bits and pieces

Aside from shooting guns, we spent most of our weekend around the house, cleaning up the garden and doing random chores that have been put off too long. Sunday afternoon, I borrowed my sister's pressure washer and cleaned all the frog poop and other assorted nasty things from the siding, which is a hard but oddly relaxing job. It wasn't all work and no play, though, as you can see. The boys had fun with Tater, and my dad took everyone on a hayride after the shooting party Saturday. I also found some pretty great deals on Fiestaware, which will be of interest to maybe one reader who isn't named Holli.

Meanwhile, in sunny California, Max is having a great time and doesn't want to come back because it is so awesome there.

the gun show

Well, the gun show, CF style, anyway.

As you probably know or can figure out, Mike and I are not huge fans of guns. We don't own any, and we don't want to own any. We think that assault rifles should be banned, and that people should have to pass at least as many tests (if not more) to own a gun as they have to pass to drive a car. Having said that, we also understand the Bill of Rights, specifically that second item, so it's not like we want to run out and confiscate everyone's guns or anything either.

Most of my family, however (with the exception of my mom), doesn't share our view. They own guns. Lots and lots of guns. They hunt in some cases, and in other cases they simply enjoy collecting them and/or having them on hand should the need arise for them to have to protect themselves. And every fall, they have a shooting party out in my parents' field where clay targets are felled by the dozen and tree stumps are pumped full of lead.

I don't guess I have to tell you that it's a bit of a quandary for us to figure out how we want to talk to the boys about guns. We don't want to take a hard line and say guns are evil, don't ever touch one, they're too dangerous, because we feel like that sets up a situation where the gun becomes the forbidden fruit that they just have to have. The fact is that they live in a state with a high rate of gun ownership. They are part of a family with a high rate of gun ownership. They are going to be around guns probably at multiple points in their lives, so they need to know how they work and how to use (and not use) them.

Enter the shooting party. Once a year, they get to shoot guns with responsible adults all around them. Before that happens, they get a serious talk with their hero Uncle J about gun safety and ground rules. They go over what to do if they ever see a gun at a friend's house or anywhere else. They talk about how the gun works, and they talk about using them with respect and care, and about the damage you can do if you are careless.

And then they get to shoot. There are all manner of guns there, so they get to try out all different kinds. This year, Liam really showed an aptitude for hitting the clay targets using my sister's rifle. He hit more than half of his targets. I tried, but hit zero of mine. Too hard to aim while those things are flying through the air! Mike and I both managed to hit the stump with my brother's Henry AR-7 survival rifle (it breaks down and stores inside of its own stock, which is sort of terrifyingly efficient). Even Henry got in on the action, with my brother guiding him.

So the hope is that we give them just enough access to guns to satisfy their curiosity, and we talk to them about our viewpoints, and someday they will develop reasonable positions of their own. Like everything else in parenting, it's a gamble, and we might not have gotten the balance right, but this is the best we could come up with. We'll let you know how it works out for us.

ribbit

Did I mention that Taltree is full of frogs? At our house, lots of frogs just ends up meaning lots of frog poop all over the siding (so gross!), but at Taltree, they ride around on the train cars and just hang out looking all magical. And apparently they do their frog business out of sight. Ahem.

a quick stop and he's off

Tomorrow morning, Max is headed to San Diego with Barb to see his uncle and cousin. It will be his first flight, first visit to California, first trip taken without us. I am excited and nervous for him in equal measure. I know he will be in excellent hands, and that this time alone with his grandma is something precious that he will remember his whole life. But I'm still worried. What if he hates flying, or gets airsick? What if he is so homesick that it colors his whole trip? I doubt these things will happen, but still.

Anyway. Since he is heading out and coming back on school nights (this IS educational, so I don't feel the least bit bad about him missing school for it) we had to figure out his transportation to and from Chicagoland. Luckily for me, Erin texted at just the right time to see if we could all meet up at Taltree Arboretum so the kids could play together. It worked out perfectly. Taltree is halfway to Chicago, so we met up there, spent a couple hours exploring and enjoying a picnic supper (courtesy of Erin) on the grounds with Barb, Erin, Lucy, and Richie, and then Max hopped in with them to head west and Liam and Henry hopped in with me to head east and off we all went, tired and happy. Not too bad for a school night, but I know a couple of boys who are going to be VERY unhappy when they have to get up early tomorrow for school and realize that Max, a state away, doesn't have to. Oh well, we'll cross that cranky bridge when we come to it.

The arboretum was beautiful as always. The train garden was decorated with skeletons and other Halloween things. There was pumpkin bowling for the kids, and there were scarecrows everywhere. We got to vote for our favorite one -- I think the consensus was the Minions one. We explored the children's garden and the music area, and the kids had a blast, especially since we got to watch two goats fighting for an extended period of time. What could be more fascinating? We have yet to make it out to the other areas of the arboretum with them though. Someday we'll walk around the pond and look for frogs and turtles and fairy cottages, but not today.

I took approximately a million pictures. Here are some of my favorites: