Cave Of The Mounds

Today, I took the boys to Cave Of The Mounds. I figured that they had never seen it that they would love it! I was dead on! They thought that it was so cool to go down into the cave and see all of the stalactites and stalagmites. They also really enjoyed "Total Darkness". They turned out all of the lights in one part of the cave and we got to see what it was like. The tour guide said that it was even darker than in your closet. I could not even see my hand in front of my face. This is the tallest stalagmite. It is 17 feet and growing. It grows about an inch every 100 years

This is what our guide called "Cave Bacon."

Just a cool picture of a rock

A smaller cave off of the main cave

Water and the rocks

Me and the boys in the cave

Cave picture

Stalactites

This rock formation is called "Polly The Parrot" If you look you can see her tail and head

Another of Polly

That tall thing in the center is a pillar. It is made when a stalactite and a stalagmite meet

Just a cool picture

See those tiny stalactites to the right? They are called Soda Straws and they are hollow in the middle. They grow at 1 inch for every 100 yearsCool

The boys thought that this looked like a man

A Beehive or Torpedo

Pretty colors

Cool

There is a line on the right of this picture. It is called a life line. That is how water and minerals get to the cave. Most everything is growing on or below the life line

This is called Grandpa's Whisker

A cool looking stalactite

Later the boys got to try sluicing. They found a lot of cool things

Kellen checking out one of his finds

Kellen sluicing

The tray with some rocks in it

Ethan sluicing

I changed the format of the pictures and they seem quite small to me. I will not do this again. If you want to see the pictures in more detail just click on them.

Dinner With Uncle Ben and Aunt Marie

On Saturday night we went over to Uncle Ben and Aunt Marie's house. We had a great dinner and saw the lizards. But, the real reason we went was to meet Lola! Uncle Ben and Aunt Marie's new puppy. Lola is a 10 week old Belgian Sheepdog. She was full of energy as most puppy's are and so cute. The boys loved playing with her except for when she nipped at them. Jared giving Lola a belly rub

Lola resting a bit

Lola

Look how cute

I love the way her ears perk up

Lola loves chewing on a golf club

Ethan playing with Lola

Jared said he zigged when he should have zagged and he ended up on the ground with Lola right there to tackle him!

If she had not closed her eyes this would have been a very good picture of Lola

Lola on the mound of snow

Lola had just stuck her head in the snow in this picture

Ethan and Gloria. You can barely see her because he wrapped her up to keep her "warm"

Kellen and Misty

Misty stuck to April's shoulder

April and Misty

Misty on April's shoulder. Misty is April's favorite

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kellen's Valentine's Day party was Friday afternoon. I went in and did the fun project with the kids. We also had sundaes and lots of other treats! I did not make it to Ethan's party with the camera. So here are some pictures of Kellen's class! Kellen's class

Kellen and Ms. Loker

Kellen and some kids

The kids looking through their Valentine bags

More of Kellen looking through his bag

Sleeping Handsome

Last week Ethan asked me if he could have a sleep mask to keep the light out. I happened to have one and let him try it out. I have since given it to him and he loves it. When I see these pictures all I can think of is Sleeping Beauty but Ethan is a boy so I call them Sleeping Handsome. Below are pictures of Ethan sleeping with the mask on.

The Case of the Pillow (Get It?)

Grandma and Grandpa Teche gave the boys a pillow case to color. Ethan did his the very next day! Ethan working on his pillow case

The finished product.

Kellen has begun to work on his so I will add pictures when he is finished