MI/KY Vacation Day 6: Creation Museum

Today was not only the 6th day of our vacation, but also my 34th birthday.  It started out with a quiet morning at the hotel near Mammoth Caves.  My boys went to fill up our ice bucket (Eric has taught Asher about his obsession with ice, and Asher has fully embraced the idea) and then surprised me with some OJ in bed (for anyone that knows me, you would know that OJ for me, is like coffee to most of the world).  Then, we got dressed and headed downstairs for the continental breakfast (which was pretty good).

When we got back to our room, the boys treated me to a nice card and a couple of small gifts (wrapped in toilet paper...the vacation version of wrapping paper I think), which Asher was thrilled to help me open.

Next, it was time to pack up the room and press on toward our next destination: The Creation Museum.    As I mentioned in my last post, we would have liked to have driven further Southeast to see a bit more of the state of Kentucky, but our little traveler caused us to change our minds and head back North.  Ever since the Creation Museum opened (10 or so years ago), I have always thought that I'd want to visit if we were ever in the area.  We decided that this was our chance.

Asher doing pull-ups on the hotel baggage cart.

Going for a ride.

As we drove toward Northeast Kentucky, it got to be lunch time and we decided that we better get something for the little man to eat.  There wasn't really anything of major interest in the area, so we decided what better place to have lunch on a vacation in Kentucky than KFC?

When we got inside, Eric was pretty excited to see that they had an all-you-can eat buffet.  After looking it over though, we decided it didn't really have what we wanted and just ordered off the menu.

Asher REALLY enjoyed his BBQ sauce!  :)

The Kentucky Scenery

Our happy (at the moment) traveler

Video: Asher singing the Clean-Up Song

After four hours (+/-) of traveling, we arrived at the Creation Museum a few hours before closing.  We were not sure if we would get through the entire museum in the time we had, but the tickets were good for the next day as well, so we went for it.  I have to say that I did enjoy the museum and thoroughly enjoyed looking at the displays from my own beliefs and perspectives rather than walking through and getting the evolutionary theory shoved in my face as-is typical of most museums.  My only complaint was the price.  It cost us $60 to see the museum (even though Asher was free) and although all of the displays were well done, I originally thought it would take us a whole day to make it through, but we ended up finishing everything up by closing time and not needing to return. Granted, had we not had a two year old with us, I suspect it would have taken us much longer to get through everything.  There were several things that Eric and I would have liked to read, but due to the lack of patience in our little man, it wasn't possible.  Oh well, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it (if you don't mind paying the fees).

Asher REALLY liked the dinosaurs!

Asher wasn't thrilled about this room and needed me to carry him.  We tried to tell him the stars were pretty, but he wasn't convinced.

Asher & I watching a short movie on creation.

The Garden of Eden (Asher loved all the animals):

In Asher's Words: "Num, Num, Num"

2 Videos: Asher & The Dinosaur

Noah's Ark

After we were done inside the museum, we headed outside, where they had a garden/nature trail and a petting zoo.

Asher's Words: "He-haw, He-haw"

When we were done at the Creation Museum, we left to go find a hotel for the night (we were quickly learning that this was NOT the way to travel with a toddler).  We were hoping to find something in downtown Newport, but there was a baseball game going on and everything was either really expensive or sold out.  Asher was getting very frustrated with the situation, and my pregnancy exhaustion and emotions were as well.  Unfortunately, although we had had a mostly good day, this put a major damper on it.  We finally headed back out of town toward the airport, where Eric parked the car and let Asher and I out to walk around while he booked us a hotel.  Finally, we got a place to stay, quickly checked in and ordered a pizza for dinner.  We were all exhausted, but since Asher hadn't gotten to swim in the "poo" like we'd promised that morning, we decided to let him go down there for a bit before bedtime that night.  That was probably one of my favorite parts of the day.  I opted to sit and watch as I was exhausted and the pool was already full of kids. Thus, Eric got the job of being with Asher in the pool.  I wish I had brought my camera down, because apparently the water was ice cold and Asher thought it was hilarious to splash Daddy!  The look of shear joy on Asher's face combined with the look of shear horror on Eric's face, was enough to make me giggle, and thankfully end my birthday on a little better note.