to the bat cave!

um..yes..bats

this weeks adventure was to darigold cheese factory and boulder cave near the naches river.

i wanted to post yesterday, but the laptop was being an idiot.

be warned: lots of pictures below.....

arrival at the dairy fair...noon

getting ice cream at 12:10 cause the cheese factory tour was retarded. everything is done by machine in these giant metal incased things. "oh yay kids, look giant metal tubes!" not a single human to be seen.

so healthy...neon ice cream.

on to the cave!

it was hot, she insisted on a jacket with the hood up and would NOT let go of my hand....after about a mile i convinced her to take it off. she was dripping with sweat "oh mom, youre right. it does feel better.". the hand holding lasted the whole three miles to the cave and back.

quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me

at the enterance of the massive cave (the opening is just to the left of this photo)

the sign above axles head and the one near the tree, repeat the same rules:

1. do not shine flashlights at the cave roof, straight ahead or down only.
2. no flash photography.

3. do not speak louder than a whisper.

4. stay on path.

into the depths....dont worry, i lead the way. harley refused to walk, she was scared .....sooooo scared. i had to carry her which was a bit tricky as the path was slimy and slick. it disapeared into the creek for a few feet also. it was kind of hard to follow cause i was really scared that i'd accidentally shine my light up to high and wake the bats!

this pic is still at the enterance. past the last rock in the photo, its pitch dark.....for quite a long time......at least i thought so. no flash allowed, so i didnt get any shots of the inside.

the light at the end of the cave

its over

the boys are completely giddy and giggly

harley is still scared to death....to be honest, i was pretty freaked out too. i dont do well in enclosed places.....or dark.....or bat infested......it doesnt help that ive seen descent (that movie really freaked me out!)

right here theyre begging me "please mom...please! please! please! can we go again?!?!?!"

of course i cast aside my fears and said yes!

not sure why, but axle and i both agreed that the second time through was SO MUCH scarier than the first!

cheeseballs! you dont see many photos of harley cause she was stuck to my hand almost the whole trip.

she spotted this little guy and wanted me to take a picture

on the way home through yakima, we stopped at the infamous miner burger. everyone raves about this place. ive been here a few times with my family but im not really a "burger kind of girl", so i never ate. today however, i was freaking hungry and it sounded so good.

harley, showing me how much stroger she is "cause i did so much exercise walking"

i let the kids get what they wanted, axle wanted to try a chili dog.....he didnt even eat nearly half.....ugh yuck.

he has to be going through a growth spurt....he DEVOURED this, like a wild animal. hungry..he ate almost all the leftovers too.

so not impressed. not sure if its cause i just really dont like burgers or because it was gross. also, i got home and saw in this photo that my food was touching the table and freaked out a little....ok a lot!

just looking at all the food here makes me a little sick....icky