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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

After my own heart

It never ceases to amaze me on how fast Bree picks up on our emotions, our reactions and how much she tries to mimic our every move; from pretending to put on deoderant to putting on our shoes to laughing just because we are laughing. Even when its time to clean she wants to be just like her momma.



However, I've never done this before. Really. I promise.



Friday, August 21, 2009

Second nature

It took all of three seconds for Bree to figure out what you are supposed to do with black olives.






This is what I've been waiting for

Ever since Bree was born I have been *ahem* patiently waiting for her to be old enough to have days like these.





We made the cookie dough then put it in the fridge while we took a nap and Bree got a bath. No germies in our cookies.









Monday, August 17, 2009

My little dare devil

Strapped in and ready to go!



Trying to get a smile from her but I think she was too uncertain of what was coming.



And we're off!!





She loved it.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009

Seneca Caverns

On our honeymoon (almost 9 years ago already!!) Jim and I stayed at a condo down in Tennessee for one week. Then spent the other week driving home and stopping at anything that caught our eyes. Many of our sight-seeing stops were in Kentucky and Tennesse at various caves and caverns such as The Lost Sea, The Forbidden Caverns and the Ohio Caverns. There is something majestic, thrilling and sometimes even historical about climbing hundreds of feet underground and seeing rivers, blind fish, old moonshine stills. Its sparked a desire to visit any caves or caverns that we run across. However, it took us nearly 9 years to find a weekend to drive 90 minutes to the west to visit the Seneca Caverns.




A bit of history about the Seneca Caverns:

The cave was discovered in June 1872 by two boys named Peter Rutan and Henry Homer while they were hunting rabbits with their dog. The dog chased a rabbit into a brush pile, where they then disappeared. While searching through the brush pile, the two boys found an opening, fell through it, and landed in the first level of the cave, where they found their dog. The boys returned home and told everyone about their discovery. The cave became known as Good's Cave, named for Emmanuel Good, the owner of the farm on which the cave was located.

In 1931, Don Bell, a lawyer from Bellevue, discovered a series of passageways and rooms in the cave which led to an underground river, called Ole' Mist'ry River, which is part of the vast groundwater system that underlies the surrounding region. After two and a half years of improvement effort, the cave was renamed Seneca Caverns and opened to the public on May 14, 1933.



I always think the entrances of caverns are creepy. Like something from a horror movie.



This was by far the most challenging cave we've been in. The next two pictures are the "steps" leading from level to level. The third and fourth pictures are just an example of how much of the tour was. Hunched-over, twisted, turned one-at-a-time single filed.









These are pictures of some of the writings on the walls from before it became illegal to do so. The date on the bottom one is from 1922. They are so perfectly preserved since the cave experiences no weather conditions at all. Just a pleasant 54 degrees year round.





In the spring, after the snow has melted and April showers drench the land, you are only able to travel down to the third or fourth levels in the Seneca Caverns. As mentioned above in the history, there is an underground river in the caverns and as it rains the river rises thus flooding out the lower levels. We were able to make it down to the seventh level before we ran into the river. The picture below is borrowed from another website because my camera couldn't take a good enough picture. It shows an underwater staircase leading to another level.



Back in the 1970's there was a severe drought in the area causing the water to receed down to a tweflth level!! Even then, it was discovered there was another staircase leading downward yet. They sent scuba divers in to see how many more levels there are but due to the bulkiness of the equipment and the tightness of the cave they were not able to do any further. But they did find yet one more staircase leading down to a fourteenth level. So to this day, they do not know how deep the Seneca Caverns really are. Amazing, huh?

Monday, August 3, 2009

Normally not allowed

Table dancing is not allowed in this household but how can you stop her when she's so darned cute?!




Saturday, August 1, 2009

True Colors by Cyndi Lauper

You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged
Oh I realize
Its hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
can make you feel so small




But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And thats why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow