The Whelan's

The kids and I took off for what was suppose to be a 2 1/2 hour drive deep into Virginia to explore the caverns famously located throughout the Shenandoah Valley and Skyline Drive. For some reason that we never figured out, the traffic was unbelievably heavy and it took us closer to 4 hours to get there. Was it worth it? You bet! The kids had a blast seeing the caverns up close and personal. The temperature in the caves remains a constant 54 degrees year round and it felt great considering it was well into the 90's above on the surface. The tour is quite a workout considering you walk on wet trails over 200 feet deep into the earth and then guess what? You have to climb back up. The trail is 1 1/4 miles long and so very interesting. My parents took my siblings and I when I was younger and I am amazed that I hadn't been back in almost 30 years. The best was Elizabeth telling me on the way home that she was glad that I made her go and that she had a lot of fun. Alex is up for anything but I usually have to cajole Elizabeth a little bit to get her to go places she is unsure of. Remember, this is the same girl that did NOT want to go to Hawaii last August. She ended up having a blast at both places and I think she might just start believing that I wouldn't go anywhere I consider boring. Next stop is a NASCAR race in September ...I already have the tickets so there is no getting out of it this time...Hee hee hee.

PS...Krista and Nancy, What happened to my blogging buddies???...chop chop , get busy writing!

Well today Alex and I went to Dover International Speedway and watched the NA SCAR Busch series race. It was a spur of the moment idea and we got to the race about 20 minutes late. Not too bad considering it was in Dover, Delaware and we are about an hour and a half away. At 1:30 I was getting bored and asked the kids if they wanted to try and see if we could get tickets. Alex was all for it, Elizabeth went to work with her daddy. I begged, pleaded and offered her a trip to the store if she would go but to no avail. She has no desire whatsoever to see a race and she can't stand loud noises. I really wanted her to come and see first hand how absolutely exciting it is to see these 43 cars flying by at over 100 miles an hour and only inches apart. If you have never gone I would highly recommend it. It is such a rush, even for this 42 year old mommy. The race began at 3pm and we got there by 320pm...Just missed the beginning but it was still so much fun we didn't mind. We are going back to see the Nextel Cup race in September and my friend Dawn and her daughter Dina are coming too. If I am clever enough I might even convince Elizabeth to come too. The photo is of Carl Edwards , driver of the #60 car, he won the race and then did a celebratory back flip off his car right in front of me and Alex. Did I mention we were in the front row, end seats right next to the start/finish line and the flag stand...awesome!