Aquarium

Okay, here are the aquarium pictures... better late than never, I guess. Kate enjoyed the aquarium much more this time. A year makes a huge difference (I'm sure it doesn't hurt that she didn't have a double ear infection this time around)! She also got to pick out souvenirs from the gift shop. Last year she didn't have any opinion on what to get. This year, we had no less than three fits just trying to make it through the gift shop. She settled on a penguin and a shark (her father's child).

On a completely unrelated note, a container of ground beef fell out of one of the grocery bags two days ago while we were unloading the van. I didn't realize this until I opened the van door tonight and was hit with the worst smell EVER. I was sure that if I happened to get pulled over tonight, the cop would think I had a dead body in the car. I blasted the AC, opened the windows, stuck a scented dryer sheet in the air vent, and sprayed an entire travel bottle of lysol in the back seat. It didn't even make a dent in the stench. I can only imagine what our dumpster smells like right about now.

Ruby Falls

Last night we went to Ruby Falls. I didn't research this one very well... I didn't realize, until after we spent $37 on tickets, that this involved an hour and twenty minute, 1000 feet underground, one mile walking tour. Since Kate is afraid of everything these days, I was afraid we'd ride the elevator down and get stuck walking a mile with a screaming baby and hysterical toddler. Kate wasn't too sure about it at first. She really loves tunnels these days though, so we told her she was in a big "tunnel" and then she was happy. Luckily, as soon as we started walking, Elliott conked out in the baby carrier. She stayed asleep for the entire tour. Poor Matt got the bad end of this deal. His back was sore after helping someone move on Friday-- carrying Kate and Elliott the whole mile through the cave did not help it!

Kate wanted to touch everything! After we got back to the hotel, she spent the whole night saying "I touched it, tunnel". If only bedtime had gone as smoothly as the underground cave tour...