Penns Cave

Our town is slowly moving towards normalcy after being trashed by the flood.  The schools were closed for 5 days and reopened on Thursday.  The middle school was severely damaged by the flood and might not open again.  Right now those kids are spread out amongst the elementary schools and everyone is adjusting.  Lilly and Jack have been spending a lot of quality time together now that our house has half the living space it once had.

On Wednesday I decided I needed a break from the flood and my ruined basement.  I took my children over the hills and through the woods to Penns Cave.  It is "America's only all-water cavern."

The only way to see the cavern is by boat.  Before the tour of the cave Lilly convinced me to pan for gold. It was actually very fun.

During the boat tour they talked extensively about flooding and how no one can live in the cave because it floods and people would die.  Not exactly the break from flooding I was hoping for....

I thought Lilly and Jack would love it, but they were scared out of their minds.  My super active toddler who will not sit still for anything was frozen on my lap with his finger in his mouth. Lilly curled up in a ball and got as close to me as she could and didn't move.  The tour lasted 52 minutes and those children didn't move a muscle.  Lilly made a few comments about the stalactites and stalagmites and mostly about how scary it was.

Can you see the fear on their faces waiting to get on the boat??

The tour guide talked about how the water was 38 degrees and if you fell in you, your body would go into shock and you would die very quickly.  Thanks tour guide for that new fear you instilled in my children.

Lilly is back in school and Jack and I are once again trying to get back to normal.

p.s. I am SO ready for this summer to be over.  Next Friday is the official first day of Autumn. Hurray!