Checking In . . .

Hi there friends and family!

How are ya?  What's new in your part of the world?

We are doing just fine. All recovered and back to our routine.

"Recovered?" you might say.

Yes, recovered. Here's the story of our past couple weeks. Old news to some but here's our story for those of you we haven't talked to.

This spring we planned a late spring break/early summer vacation of sorts. It had been a while since we've gotten out of Dodge. We had been wanting to meet up with friends from Spokane for quite some time and so a plan was in the making. We agreed to meet at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky to do some exploring and camping. After spending several days together in Kentucky, the plan was to part our separate ways and continue our vacations elsewhere. After Kentucky, we planned to meet up with Doug's dad in Chattanooga, Tennessee for a few days. The plan was to rent a little place in the river.  See the sights during the days and grill out at the house in the evenings.

Things didn't go exactly as planned. Life happened. Still,  memories were made and we had some valuable time of re-creation.

We left our home in Wisconsin on a Saturday morning and we drove through to Louisville, Kentucky that evening. The trip went well that day except that Mace had a number of loose stools. We had to change his clothing a couple times. No big deal, really. Things get messy with kids.

Saturday evening with rented a little house in Louisville with our friends from Washington (who now live in Texas).  We ate dinner together and just spent time being together again. Our kids did some growing up together in Spokane. Our families are both homeschooling families, so we had done some fun learning time together in Washington. A bonding experience.

Sunday we went to a beautiful old church in Louisville, St. Boniface. We love these old churches that have choirs that are placed behind the congregation. It is exquisite when those sweet voices waft over you as you come to the Lord in worship.

Sunday evening we went to part of the Kentucky Derby Festival to see Matt Maher in concert. Doug and I were surprised by the small crowd but I suppose part of that was due to the weather. It was wet. Matt Maher is always great!

Monday morning we packed up and started our drive southward towards Mammoth Cave.  On the way down we stopped at the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln to look around a bit. We also made a quick stop at his childhood home. The kids and I had spent the last couple months reading up on things pertaining to both Kentucky and Tennessee.  So visiting these sights dedicated to Lincoln was special because we had prepped for it a bit.

This is where the trip started to turn sour for me. While visiting Lincoln's birth sight, I noticed my stomach wasn't feeling great.  On the way from the historical sites and to Mammoth Cave, I vomited twice and quite a large volume. Too much information, I know. Sorry.

Needless to say, I was very little help with the camp set-up, cooking, cleaning, etc for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I basically just sat around and tried to help a little bit with the kids.  I was mostly miserable because I was so cold and had diarrhea for three days (TMI, sorry). I couldn't get warm, even under piles of blankets and sleeping bags. The pits, I tell you. Awful.

BUT . . . the kids had a great time. They ran around playing tag games for hours with their friends. Most everyone (except myself) enjoyed two cave tours. The kids LOVED the cave. We had also read up on caves as well during our studies.

Doug was left with most of the duties and had to take special care in setting up because we were due for rain. And rain it did. Anyhow, during the set-up Doug sliced his hand open and had to go to the ER for stitches.  That was Tuesday. By Wednesday, I told Doug I had to go to a hotel or something to get warm. I also had a 103 temperature. We realized after I almost passed out, that it wasn't just warmth I needed but fluids and more than I could do on my own. I hadn't eaten for three days and most of my liquids were just going right through me.  So back to the ER it was.  Between the IV fluids and a warm night's sleep at a hotel, I was feeling much better by Thursday morning.

But we decided that we didn't want to take the chance of the stomach bug being passed to person to person thus ruining the rest of our vacation in Tennessee. So we ended up canceling the rest of our road trip. We were crushed. We had been looking forward to seeing Tennessee for months. My parents had lived in Chattanooga for some time and I was excited to see the area.

Anyhow, back to Wisconsin it was. I was able to keep down a baked potato on the way back. The little bit of nourishment helped me gain some strength. We spent Friday and Saturday resting, drying camping gear, laundry, etc. Friday was Doug's birthday, so we went out for an awesome dinner at our favorite restaurant. Doug and I shared the most amazing salmon dinner. We kept talking about this salmon for the next couple days! :)  I wish I had taken a picture. Actually, in the midst of all the excitement, the camera disappeared. So I am not able to share the pictures I had taken. The ones shared here are from Doug's camera.  Sounds silly but please pray we can find it or some sort of a miracle. This mama is pretty sad at not being able to catch our moments on film.

By Saturday I was doing much, much better and we were ready to make the most of the time we had left for vacation.  After thinking through some options (and seeing that the weather was supposed to be cold and rainy), we opted to visit Milwaukee.

We left early Sunday morning to make the 10am Mass at St. Jehoshaphat's Basilica in Milwaukee.

Wow. Just wow. This basilica was built entirely by the Polish community at the turn of the century. Even the pastor contracted himself out to be the mason. Anyhow, a neat history there. The basilica is stunning. The choir was heavenly. It was a beautiful morning of worship.

Monday we visited the Discovery Center, which is located right on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee. Just what the doctor ordered. Doug and I are thinking that Milwaukee is a great day or overnight trip for us. It's an easy drive; quite accessible for us. We look forward to checking out the zoo, the art museum, and other venues as well on future trips to the city.

Doug went back to work on Wednesday and we hit the books again as well. We are thankful for the time off and the time together but we hope that our future road trip adventures will only get better from here. We haven't had the best of luck so far. :)

Our goddaughter, Faith. Such a beautiful girl!

Visiting the grave of Stephen Bishop, a guide that the boys read about.

Mace was such a good boy. Taking his naps all snuggled up in his sleeping bag. Not a peep. 

Bus for the tours. 

Good-byes at the hotel. 

 

my favorite part of the aquarium

Pirates in the bottom of the ship

trying out the bed of nails

simulator

they enjoyed the touch tanks the best. here, a manta ray.