This year Maddie was a little mouse. She thought Halloween was pretty great when she realized there was candy involved. I tried to limit her sugar consumption but Chris was adament that I let her eat as much as she wanted on this one and only day. We very rarely argue about Maddie so I decided not to argue this one. She ate too much candy and wouldn’t touch her dinner. It’s only one day…
This afternoon Maddie enjoyed her first experience as a cave explorer. She made it about 3/4 of the way through the tour and she was ready to leave. I asked one of the women giving the tour if she would mind walking us back out and she was kind enough to do so. Maddie couldn’t understand why she couldn’t swim in the water. She was ready to kick off her shoes and jump in. She had already threw her hard hat in the water once and the tour guide had to jump in to fetch it for her. I didn’t get a picture of me wearing my hard hat but thank goodness Chris had one or we would have spent the remainder of the day in the ER. I couldn’t count the number of times I heard “THUNK” followed by Chris laughing. It was an irritaded laugh because he was trying to walk through the cave holding Maddie, her hard hat and two flash lights. We took turns, one of us holding Maddie and one of us holding the expensive camera we just purchased. We all had a great time and are glad the cave is finally open to the public again. I can’t wait to take Maddie when she is a little older and can enjoy all there is to learn about the cave and its history. I would like to learn about it too, I didn’t get to hear much with all the whining about the swimming and the throwing of the hard hat. That’s ok, it was worth the trip just to see Maddie in that hat holding the flashlight in her tiny hand.
We did get to see an albino crayfish on the tour. The tour guide told us that this was the first one they had spotted since the cave opened to the public. They were concerned that all the vandals that entered the cave had polluted it to the point that some species would not return for a while.
They also installed a new gate at the entrance of the cave. They did this for two reasons; to keep the vandals out but more importantly they wanted a better entrance for the 3 different species of bats to enter the cave easily and hopefully increase the population. We did see three bats on the tour and they were all the same species. I cannot recall the name but they were very small and we were able to get close enough to touch them.
I will post the rest of the cave pictures on Flickr when I have more time but right now I am ready to head off to bed so that I will be ready to start ANOTHER!!! 10 hour day. Oh how I wish this weekend would last forever because it was a good one for so many reasons…
Yeah, I know. The title of this entry does very little to explain the picture attached. We visited the pumpkin patch and they were giving pony rides for a $1. This was the highlight of Maddie’s day and because it made her so happy, it was the highlight of my day.
The Hotel of Terror was one of the few experiences that my Dad and I shared together every year while growing up. I think it started when I was about eight years old. My sister was always too scared to go in but my Dad and I stood in line for up to an hour to share the terror! I was never afraid and my Dad would often make me walk in front so that I was the first to be startled. To this day, I love being in front. It is the little kid in me that for some twisted reason loves to be scared. This “Hotel” is several stories and there is a slide at the top and that is the only way to get out – WhaaaHaaaHaaa.
This was the first year that I had been back to the place since Maddie came along. I knew that Chris would not go under any circumstances, so I didn’t even ask. I basically told him “If I can’t find someone to go, I will go by myself.” It is true, I had every intention of going alone. But instead I decided to call my niece and she was thrilled to go. We had a great time, standing in line for over an hour. Watching all the crazies come and go. Then finally it was our turn to enter the hotel and I thought my niece was going to pull my arm off my shoulder. Was she scared? Yes and she was digging the entire thing. I promised that I would take her every year from now on. Here are some pictures of Sydney’s first haunted house visit.
Sydney posing with the “Reaper”. Yes it is a little twisted but look at the smile on that girls face. Priceless…
Syndey at the end of the slide. Again, look at the smile on her face. I think she had a little bit of fun.
