A Father's Day Adventure

We are finally and slowly leaving 

the baby phase in this house.

We have been in this 

"mode"

for the past 8+ years straight...

Leaving the baby days behind us is 

bittersweet...

I would have more (most days).

But while leaving this one

phase behind us,

it is opening us to all sorts of new

possibilities

and

adventures...

I am REALLY looking forward to that!!

For Father's Day we wanted to do something fun.

I considered whisking daddy away for a quick

trip to the beach, 

but there was a little thing called a 

Dance Recital

that prevented an overnight trip.

So instead I started looking for something 

a little closer to home.

We started off the morning with getting daddy some of 

his favorite foods:

barbacoa

& 

menudo

(seriously don't ask)

Then we packed a lunch and hit the road for a little 

adventure.

We wound up at the

Natural Bridge Caverns

What an AMAZING adventure!!

We borrowed a backpack carrier,

strapped Mr. T on and headed in.

This is how we started...

We waited around a little for the tour to start

Here is where we were headed:

(This is the "Natural Bridge")

We got to see a couple of critters:

(and NO, I did not get this close to these things!

I was actually using a REAL camera with ZOOM)

When the tour started we walked a little ways to 

a holding area...

while we listened to the do's and don'ts 

of the tour.

We got to stand here at the top of the path

listening to the rules

meanwhile,

the three oldest are staring down this "path".

This little lecture gave them time to decide

that none of them wanted to see what was down

there!!

After standing there long enough,

 Ms. Priss decided she was NOT

going in THERE!!!

Daddy gave me Mr. T 

and then he carried Ms. Priss the whole way.

Ms. Priss has a death grip on daddy!

Shortly after we entered the cavern,

we realized that switching Mr. T to my back

was a good idea.

If you haven't figured it out yet,

daddy is a big boy and has rather 

broad shoulders.

He and Mr. T would NOT have fit

through quite a few spots.

The decent:

Once we got in there and got all of them to realize

we were not walking them into the dungeon of death!,

they decided it was pretty stinking cool!!

Mr. T was constantly in my ear saying

"whoa" 

I think he liked it!

  

Oh look - her feet did actually hit the 

ground once or twice while we were in there!

They all look a little wet and soggy don't they?
The humidity was at 99% in there,
but it was a balmy 70°-ish.

After I took this picture,

we put Mr. T back on daddy's back.

My shoulders were getting a bit sore 

from carrying his 25+ lb self around for over an hour...

unfortunately,

the cavern gets really tight again on the way out

and daddy had to almost crawl out

with Mr. T on his back!

We enjoyed our little adventure

and we are looking forward to more!

After our cave adventure,

we pulled out lunch

and since it was Father's Day

daddy had picked out dessert.

My children got to taste Twinkies 

(or Cloud Cakes)

for the first time EVER!

 Mr. T didn't care for it...

Nor did Ms. Priss.

Mr. T actually put it down and 

decided he would rather have grapes!

Whoo hoo!!

We closed the day with 

2 lbs of homemade fried calamari 

with a garlic aioli sauce

and 

5 lbs of crab legs!

And not a bit was left!

(notice no veggies, daddy's choice - 

said he didn't have to because it was Father's Day!)

Happy Father's Day to My Husband!!