Sam, Kathryn, Ivy, and Marshall: February 2016

First hike of 2016!

Bay's Mountain Nature Reserve, the city owned park in the area, has tons of hiking trails! The other day we tried out one trail that goes along the top of the ridge, out to the radio towers at the point of the mountain. The views were awesome! It ended up being about 4 miles round trip, but so much fun! We all got a little hungry towards the middle of the hike, but were feeling good after we stopped under the radio towers for water and snacks. We will have to go back and do it again when all the leaves grow back in! But for now, we were just glad it was warm enough to be back outside!

Outings and Playdates

The Mom's Club that I am a part of here in Kingsport gets together for play dates throughout the weeks and these are some of the fun ones we've been on during the past month or so... If they are in the mornings, I just take Marshall with me while Ivy is in school. We've had some fun adventures together. Then sometimes there are a few in the afternoon that I can take Ivy to as well..

Bass Pro in Bristol aka Marshall's idea of heaven(Miss Ada and I were matching that day! hehe):

Off-leash dog training activity where the trainers came and talked to the kids about dog safety and the importance of training them:

We had a tour of the Police Department here in Kingsport! The officer talked to the toddlers (er, moms) about the department, court, and jail, etc.. and then he let the moms take turns getting a tour of where they hold people temporarily when they get arrested! It was super interesting! I didn't take Marshall on the tour bc he was being particularly wiggly the past few days and I knew he wouldn't just let me hold him through the tour. But he did make friends with the officer, who let him sit up at the front with him while he talked. ha! It cracked me up! The officer's middle name was even Marshall so I guess they bonded. lol!

Valentine's Day

These first couple pics are Ivy putting together her Valentine's for her class party. She chose Puppies and Kitties this year. Hehe!

This year, we decided to play things pretty low-key and just spend the day together doing things we love! We started the morning at Krispy Kreme, where the kids watched the donuts being made, and had some fun Valentine's donuts. Then we headed home and played until lunch, and after lunch we made some of the BEST sugar cookies I've ever had! They are officially my favorite! They are called Swig sugar cookies. Sam and I finished off the evening with a candlelight steak dinner after the kids were in bed and a movie! Nothing fancy, but just a perfect day together!

Flowers from Sam, and my festive nails:

Sam's surgery

Two days after getting home from Mexico, Sam had scheduled a surgery on his knee for a small meniscus tear that he'd been dealing with since last summer. (Thank you wake boarding!) Crazy to think that I was just in the tropics, and came home to SNOW! The night before, we were a little worried we wouldn't be able to get down to JC for the surgery but we made it just fine, snowy roads and all! Anyways, I forgot to snap a picture of the patient himself, but he recovered just fine and only missed 5 days of his rotations.

Pictures of the repaired tear:

Update: Recovered great! Started running again after just 6 weeks instead of the normally recommended 8, per doctors permission!

Rio Secreto!

When Trish told me way back in December that she got us all tickets to do an excursion called the "Secret River," I had NO CLUE what we were getting into! She kept raving about it and although excited, because I knew anything in Mexico just had to be fun, I figured it was just a short little boat ride into a cave or something. I had NO idea we would actually be spelunking through underground caves with a fresh flowing river of crystal clear water! To say this was awesome would be an understatement. It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life! The whole thing sounds a little sketchy, being in another country and all, but this really was a well funded (by National Geographic), well organized, and super safe adventure. The actual river was only discovered about 6 years ago and the excursion itself has only been up and running for a couple years, after everything was cleared as safe, of course. If you are ever in the Cancun area, I highly recommend it!

After watching a short introduction video at the front of the location, we took a bus ride 7km inland on bumpy dirt roads to the entrance to the caves, where they made us shower, lock up all our belongings, and change into wetsuits and helmets and water-shoes. We hiked another half km or so through the jungles to where they performed a cultural ritual before entering the caves.. Then we climbed down about 25 feet or so to the first part of the caves! From there, it was just our group (a Canadian couple was with us), tour guide, and camera girl! They told about the stalactites and stalagmites, and how much calcium is in the water, how they have found evidence of ancient civilizations visiting the rivers and caves, etc.. We had to duck under and step over lots of rock formations, and then had to float/swim through certain parts that were pretty deep. The only lighting that was around us was our guide's flashlight and our headlamps. It was such a neat experience! I think my favorite part was being in a part of the caves that was big enough for us to float together in a circle (last few pics). After the tour was over, we did a traditional toast with a cultural drink made from a specific tree in the jungle, and then they had a cafeteria type hut where they served us lunch, then we took a van ride back to the front of the location, where our taxi van from the resort was waiting for us! It was an amazing morning! An experience I will never forget and I one that I hope to take Sam to some day!