Joy Abounds...Just Not In Caves

This past week at our church vacation bible school was going on. Elanor, our oldest went all week and had a blast. This year's theme was Cave Quest. Because of the theme I figured hey lets go to a real cave. So, I took the girls to Natural Bridge Caverns.

I was so excited for this day trip. We went when we were young and I loved it. The formations of stalagmites and stalactites are dreamlike. It's hard to believe that there aren't any dwarves, trolls, or fairies living down there.

Everything seemed OK at the time. The girls were in a good mood and ready to go. We got in line to get the rules for going through the cave and the girls were climbing all over the stone wall we lined up by. As we made our way to the cave entrance you could feel the temperature getting cooler and cooler. Then we entered. I was not prepared.

This picture explains our trip under ground.

I know Elanor does not like the dark. This did not cross my mind as a factor in going to the cave. There were lights. I was with her. Well for the whole 70 minute tour Elanor complained about being scared, she did not like the cave, her feet hurt, she was hungry, and the water from the ceiling of the cave kept dropping on her. I kept calling her attention to the formations but nope, they weren't cool. Adeline on the other hand was enthralled with the railing she got to hold onto while on the path. But to top it off, as soon as we exited the cave, with a quarter mile left, Elanor had to pee. Oh man did she have to pee! Getting back to the visitor center for the restroom was torture.

As we finally got back into the car we started to make our way to the Gristmill to meet some friends
for dinner. What I didn't know was my friend had a previous engagement soon so there was not much time. As we parked and made our way there it turned out there was an hour wait for a table. I didn't think anything of it. I made it there, put my name down, found an open area, and the girls were playing. To my dismay my friend called to remind me about how they were pressed for time. They suggested another place so I gathered the girls, made my way back to the car, got the girls in the car, and found our way to the next stop, Newk's. We made our way inside and it was a whole new experience.

The girls were running around acting cute and goofy. They were so excited to see the Glaze's and baby Lily. They were on cloud 9. We ordered our food, got to our booth, and they climbed, jumped, giggled, and entertained. The girls were in heaven. Lily allowed us to bask in her cuteness. I got to catch up with my friends on their new adventure in a new home and new job. And after they left, we ended up ordering MORE food because the girls were still hungry. Elanor ate her whole kid sized pizza and half of the full sized pizza we ordered. I guess the cave took a lot out of her. And during this whole time they continued to jump, climb, and wrestle in our booth.

I had made plans to give them a great adventure in the cave, which failed. But joy was found elsewhere, among friends while breaking bread. We got back home after midnight and I got the girls to bed. That 6 hour round trip mainly for the caves was all worth it for the 30 minutes with friends, laughter, and food.

Check out my friends' YouTube channel: That Catholic Couple