Mammoth Caves

Did you know that Mammoth Caves is a National Park?  It's the longest cave in the world, over 400 miles and still unchartered sections, every year they discover more.

Hannah & Olivia got many junior ranger badges at the other NPs (national parks) we've been to, so they helped Paul work on his book.

They went on the Star Chamber lantern tour. If you're over 16, you can go on a tour without a guardian.  Each cave requires a purchased ticket, but there is no admission fee, as there are with the other NPs.  There are plenty of other things to do, hiking, listening to ranger talks that we enjoyed, that were free.

The 6 of us went on 2 tours together, Mammoth passage (which is a path that leads to some very large areas, hence the name...there are no wooly mammoth bones found in the area!) & Frozen Niagara (lots of stalactites & stalagmites).

Filled up my Nalgene water bottle many times!

Had the breakfast buffet on Tues. & Thurs. morning.  The Green River Grill has sausage from a local farm.  Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, bacon, scrambled eggs, potatoes, peppers, biscuits & gracy, custom omelettes, I got one with fresh mushrooms, onions, cheddar & fresh spinach. In all we paid under $50 (I think children under 5 were free, the girls $7.95 each, $12.95 per adult) and we ate enough so that we didn't need lunch!

Junior ranger "swearing" in!

And we got home...and had Hannah's graduation party!

Post partum

This book The First Forty Days by Heng Ou, is still good for me, full of stories of the need for nourishment, healing and recipes. Post partum recovery should be slow.  I am a breastfeeding advocate.  It helps your body do what it should & is the best food for your baby.  I made broth yesterday using the bones leftover from grilled pork ribs we had, and added an onion & carrots.  I drank a cup of it with a pinch of Himalayan pink salt...so good.  Next, I want to make the gooey brownie recipe.

Today marks 7 months since George's birth.  He has 2 teeth, started eating whole milk yogurt, also he likes applesauce.

Hannah had an award ceremony today.  All the students wore their cap & will be graduating in a few days!  She was presented with a book from her AP Literature and Language teachers for her engaging participation in discussions.

Outdoor baby, he was so happy to be in the grass.

Sixteen

We celebrated Olivia's birthday a few days early.  Grammie brought donuts.  They were one of Pepaw's favorites.  This past Friday was 4 years since he passed away.

The surprise party was Hannah's idea...and she decorated for it this morning, while the rest of us went to the Memorial day parade.

We had a make your own llama cotton ball & paint activity.  It was such a nice day!

Myrrhbearing women

Yesterday was my namesday, St. Martha, my patron saint is depicted wearing a deep red cloak.  She was one of the Myrrhbearing women that went to the tomb of Christ to find that He wasn't there, but had risen!  My Mom gave me those red Gerber daisies, there are 2 more buds yet to open.  For Mother's day, one of my daughters gave me the purple Salvia, on the left, and the other gave me the Jasmine you see below.

We visited my husband at work, after a hard night of little ones not sleeping and having wet the bed.  3 years old is young to be night potty trained, but he did well for a few days & he prefers to wear underwear.

Have you try the chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's? Soooo good!

Plastered the walls and sanding.  Repaint and rehang the towel racks.  Then our bathroom will be done!

George and me out on the back deck by our grapevines.  He's still got a cold, so hard when they can't blow their nose, sneeze and it runs down to their lip.  My husband does a great job using the bulb syringe to clear it out.  It's hard for him to nurse, if he's so congested. 

We bought Hyland's cough syrup for our older kids.  I started using it years ago and it tasted better than the others and is homeopathic (I've used Boiron hepar sulph for myself and that's the main active ingredient here, too), no sugars, no dye.  I highly recommend Hyland's.

Saint George day

What beautiful weather we're having here. It's Saint George day!  Little George had a nice namesday.  The bishop came and we had a festive service with procession outside.

Paul and I got ice cream together.

Hannah and Olivia went to their school prom and looked very fancy.  It's nice to dress up!

I really love Trader Joe's.  I am able to use Hannah's employee discount (10%) since she's under 18 & living in our house.  I always get organic carrots there, just 89 cents for a pound.

Parker's

Here's one of the dances that Olivia did:  https://youtu.be/d_ru8967dSw

That's Hannah playing guitar and singing: