Family Road Trip

The kids usually spend 1-2 weeks every summer with their grandparents in Ohio/Michigan. We decided that we would take a week to drive them up there and do some sightseeing along the way.

Day one we spent driving from Florida to Franklin, North Carolina. It was about a nine hour drive to the mountains. Once we got there, the weather was perfect, nice and cool, and the views were beautiful.

Day two we went mining for gems. There are several ways that people can mine. You can actually go out in the mountain, get a bucket of dirt, bring it back, run it through the water and hope that you get something. You continue this until you do get something. Now our children, like most, want that instant gratification so we opted for the enriched buckets that you will produce results. We bought two 2 1/2 gallon buckets of dirt and started panning away. Here's how you do it: 1. Put a scoop of dirt in the strainer (container with small holes) 2. Put the strainer in the running water and wash the dirt away.

3. Determine which rocks are gems and which are just rocks. Luckily, there was an expert there to help us with this. It's very hard to figure out what is a rock and what is a gem. Rocks go into the throw away bins and gems on the tray. Continue to do this until the dirt is gone.

The kids loved this and both got a quart size ziploc bags of gems, ranging from quartz to emeralds and rubies.

Joo holding up citrine that she found.

Min holding up amethyst he found

The mine that we went to had a special for tourmaline. They would polish and cut a one carat piece for a ring or necklace included with the purchase of our buckets. It's really neat to see a black rock that you found be turned into a pretty green gem.

After mining, we toured the mountains a bit then headed towards Tennessee.

Min loved climbing on the rocks.

We took this really beautiful scenic route that followed a river for most of the way. This river was used in the summer Olympics that were in Atlanta for the whitewater kayaking events. We stopped at the visitor center and watched all of the whitewater rafters running the rapids. We saw a couple of people get flipped out of the raft and the rescuers trying to pull them back in.

Day three was spent at Lookout Mountain in Tennessee and Georgia. We went to Ruby Falls, which is an underground cavern system that has a huge waterfall.

We also went to Rock City, which is an outcropping of large rock formations that a family made into a park with walking trails over the rocks and in between the rocks. It was a really neat park. When you get to the top of the mountain, you can see seven states.

Day four was spent at King's Island, an amusement park in Mason (close to Cincinnati) Ohio. They have the best kids' area of all the parks that we have been too. Min and Joo love that park. I love the food in that park. Cheese fries and elephant ears, yum!!! We left the camera at the hotel that day (we had just been there the previous August and had taken a bunch of pictures then), but we did buy a great family picture of us going down the hill on one of the water rides there.

Day five we drove to Columbus to see our good friend, and my former college roommate, Mrs. Jones and to stock up on our buckeye gear for the upcoming college football season. We also had to show the kids Ohio Stadium! Go Bucks!!
Min took this picture of us in front of Mike Nugent's Buckeye tree in Buckeye Grove. Every Ohio State player that is an All-American gets a Buckeye tree planted in the grove in his honor.

Day six was supposed to be spent at Kelley's Island in Lake Erie but the weather didn't cooperate and it rained so we went to Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio instead. This was a fort that was used in the War of 1812.

We had a great family road trip, the kids were well behaved in the car and they got to see and do things that were new to them.

Day seven the kids were with Grandma Sue and Papa, and Mr. Cash and I were on our way to visit several historical sites on the way back home. More on that later. . .

Guilt Trip

I am busy this week getting ready for our vacation, the kids are all packed and ready to go so I decided to get started on my suitcase. Well, apparently Brutus doesn't want me to go unless I take him with me. First he laid on my clothes that were on the bed, then when I started putting my clothes in the suitcase he sat in it and, eventually, laid down stopping me from packing. What he doesn't know is that both he and Buckeye will be well taken care of by our friends M and J who are moving in while we are gone.

Notice the sad look that I am getting. How can I leave this dog?!

Congratulations Sis and New Brother-in-Law!!

The family and I had a very busy week last week since many of my family members were in town for my sister's wedding at Disney on July 7. The last of my family left today. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone that we don't get to see very often and the wedding was wonderful. Here is a picture recap of the week:

Joo with cousin N from Ohio on the Fourth of July waiting for the boat at Downtown Disney.

My Aunt B from Georgia with her granddaughter S from Ohio at the rehearsal dinner at my house. The dogs were very interested in the babies.

Joo at the rehearsal dinner in her flower girl outfit.

Joo with her Aunt St, aka the bride, at the rehearsal dinner.

Joo opening her gift for being in the wedding, a Flower Girl Precious Moment.

Min opening his gift, a Swiss Army watch.

Practicing the ceremony at the rehearsal dinner.

Joo getting her hair done the day of the wedding. She got to choose her do and she wanted it curled.

Joo having a pre-wedding snack.

Joo dressed and ready to go.

Mother of bride, bride and flower girl.

Joo in the limo on the way to the wedding pavilion.

Joo with daddy, Min and mommy before the ceremony.

Min and Joo walking down the aisle as ring bearer and flower girl.

Mr. Cash walking my sister down the aisle.

The wedding ceremony at Disney's wedding pavilion. It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon but it actually stopped raining during the ceremony so we could see the castle clearly through the window.

The Cash family with the bride and groom.

My family that attended the wedding, it's only about half. My mom was one of six brothers and sisters. Bride and Joo.

Min and Joo toasting the bride and groom.

My sister loves Minnie Mouse (and purple) so my mom arranged for Minnie to show up at the reception and surprise my sister. She had no idea and was thrilled.

Joo dancing with Minnie. Minnie also wanted to dance with Min, but he said, what would my friends think, and wouldn't do it.

Joo dancing with her new uncle.

Min and Joo with Minnie Mouse.

Joo doing the hula at the luau.

The end of a very long and fun day for Joo.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the hotel beach and pool with our family.

Joo with the newest addition to our extended family, baby J who is only 7 weeks old. Her mom (my cousin) was brave enough to fly all the way from Oregon with her to spend the week with us.

Poor Brutus

A couple of weeks ago, Brutus (the younger of our two cavs) was playing and came up limping. He hobbled around for a few minutes on three legs then went back to walking, and acting, normally. I just took it that he strained a muscle and when it felt better he used the leg again. Well, a couple of days later it happened again, same leg (back left) and same result. This continued to happen off and on until today when I told Mr. Cash it's time to call the vet and find out what is going on. Turns out he has Patellar Luxation and the only way to correct it is surgery. Patellar Luxation is when his knee cap pops out of the socket, which is why he pulls up the leg and won't use it until the knee cap pops back into place. The severity is ranked from 1 (mild) to 4 (severe). Brutus is a 2, which means he doesn't need surgery quite yet, but will eventually. We were given some anti-inflammatory medicine to give him if it continues to pop out on a regular basis. Maybe Brutus and Buckeye can have their surgeries at the same time, if you recall Buckeye will also need surgery to correct his compressed spine. I guess we will have to start a dog surgery fund.