From the Bowels of The Earth

Since we are relatively close to next year's reunion location, we took it upon ourselves to "sacrifice" a weekend and check out one of Colorado Springs' attractions.....

P.S. I don't like to use real names 'cause I'm a parinoied freak about protecting my kids. Sorry.

Whew, finally in Mom's arms.

We went on a journey into the Earth last weekend. I lobbied pretty heavily to go; I love caves and being down in the earth. Apparently, My Youngest disagrees. Hopefully I’ve not made him claustrophobic. His favorite word of the journey was no, heard almost in an uninterruptible stream, especially when they turned out the lights. I was in the very back of the crowd in a long corridor; I had an inkling of what was about to happen. I wanted to distance myself from the others as best I could. It got a little darker as they turned on the simulated lanterns used in the old days and turned off the modern lighting. “No, no lights off. No lights off.”

Then, it got under the Earth dark. “NO NOO NOOOOOOOO! NO LIGHTS OFF!” I tried my best to calm him to no avail. Our Youngest kept yelling. I couldn’t hear a thing the tour guide said. Though she tried valiantly, picking her volume up over the sound of my child, I only heard her when he was taking a breath to fill his lungs for more no’s.

Suck it in!

You can't tell, but I am carryng Yoda through this narrow opening. Not once did his feet touch the ground durring the hour long tour.

Thanks for keeping an eye on me.

Fortunately, we went with some cousins of ours that live near the cave. They kept an eye on Our Eldest, so I didn’t have to worry about him too. Despite having to carry Our Youngest through the whole cave system I enjoyed myself a lot. The best part for the kids was the souvenir shop. Hopefully that will be the memory Our Youngest takes away from our excursion into the Earth, or it may be a while before I get to go back and see the buried treasure in the bowels of the Earth…