We left early on Saturday, July 22 and made the 3 hour drive. I remembered to give Lucy some car sickness medicine (Bonine) and she did great - she even watched a movie in the car and didn't barf...hooray!
KY Down Under is right next to a McDonald's so we stopped there first for lunch.
The kids were beyond excited to get the adventure going! One of the first things we did when we got inside was go into the lorikeet enclosure...well, almost all of us. Max really wanted a bird to land on him and Lucy really did NOT want a bird to land on her and was so worried of the prospect that she decided not to go in at all. She and Grandma stayed outside to watch and take pictures.
He wanted a bird to land on him so bad but once one did, he was a little nervous about it and wanted him to fly away pretty promptly! He loved feeding them juice though!
It was very hot that day - around 92 degrees - so luckily Grandma had picked up a few mini cooling towels for the kids.
We got to see and pet and feed the kangaroos but they were feeling the heat, too! They weren't super-active...they were pretty much just laying in the shade and were mostly too hot to eat, but we did see a couple hop around a little bit.
A lot of them had joeys in their pouches! We saw a few climb out and even saw one hop away. Lucy was cracking up when the mama quickly hopped after it..."That mama's like 'You get back here!'"
There were a few other animals mixed in with the 'roos - some goats, a pig, some emu...
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| Max and Alli especially had fun feeding and talking to the pig |
We also went inside a cave!
The kids all enjoyed the cave - we all especially liked how cool it was in there compared to the heat of the day. Max loved finding little puddles to splash in.
We still had the rest of the weekend ahead of us and weren't 100% sure what else we were going to do but after this cave, we ruled out Mammoth Caves - "You've seen one cave, you've seen them all" was Kathy's thought that everyone seemed to agree with!
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| Max was telling this owl all about the stuffed animal owls he has in his room |
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| This sign made me laugh! |
And Alli made this bird laugh! There was a sign that said "If you “roll your R’s” at a high pitch they will begin to laugh" so Alli gave it a try and she was successful! The bird was laughing!
Soon it was time to cool off with popsicles which Grandma treated us all to!
They also got to "pan for gold" and all loved it.
We had a very fun day at the Adventure Zoo!
We had a great first day of our little trip and soon the fun continued at the hotel. We got checked in and quickly changed into our suits and headed over to the pool. We ordered pizza and ate it in the pool area which worked out perfectly. Lucy and Paisley had fun playing together in Lucy's princess rings and with some little toys. Max was obsessed with Alli and those two had so much fun! She's so sweet with him and he wanted to do everything she did. Every time she jumped into the pool, he tried to duplicate her jump...if she ran from the back fence and jumped in, he did the same.
The water in the main pool was not exactly refreshing - it was bathwater-temperature - but still lots of fun. But these crazy children kept going over to the Jacuzzi pool - which was even warmer! - to play in there.
Once we were able to coax them out of the pool and back to our rooms, they got cleaned up and into pajamas and played together some more...cousin fun is so special!
I shared a bed with my little bed-hog while Lucy had the other bed to herself and the other ladies were in the room next door.
The next morning we headed to the lobby to eat some breakfast - Max sat with his bestie while the girlies buddies up with Aunt Nikki.
After breakfast, some helpers came with me to put more ice in the cooler and we couldn't help but notice the scary-looking weather headed our way...
Luckily, it passed very quickly and we just waited in the hotel room until the coast was clear!
Soon enough, we embarked on our next adventure - to Dinosaur World!
Lucy and Paisley were dying to ride in the car together and since it was a short drive down the road, I let Lucy ride in Grandma's car without a carseat.
Max wanted his buddy to ride with him and Alli was a good sport and rode in Lucy's booster!
We figured the playground would get hot quick so we played there first before the sun could bake it. It was a pretty cool little play area.
There were some interactive things for them to do where they learned more about dinosaurs and then we went along the dinosaur trail. That was pretty cool, too, but I think we were all a little disappointed that the dinos were behind ropes and you weren't allowed to touch or climb on them. I guess that's the way to keep them intact...
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| Aaagh! T-rex! |
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| Max found a dinosaur like the ones on his shirt! |
We climbed up to the big dinosaur visible from the highway to get some pics!
They go to pan for gold again and dig for dinosaur bones. Big fun!
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| Even the trash cans were dinosaurs! |
After spending the day there, we went back to the hotel where the kids played and swam together some more. That evening, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and then Max, Lucy and I headed home.
I'd forgotten to pack Lucy's medicine but she still did well on the way home - no barf! She was definitely ready to be out of the car when we got home, though!
Such a fun little trip!
