Convention, Creation, and Caves

Check out that alliteration! Can you tell I spent last week at a convention of Baptist pastors?
We had a wonderful week in Louisville at the Southern Baptist Convention! My only regret is that I don't have a lot of pictures from the week. I've learned something about what happens when Matt is in charge of the camera. He takes pictures of things, not people! My philosophy is that the 100 year old monument to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace will look exactly the same in twenty years as it does today. Our children won't! So on our next trip, I'll be confiscating the camera!
One of the best parts of going to the convention every year is that Matt's parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and their children attend as well. Although I enjoy getting to be a part of convention life, I have to admit that one of my main motivations for attending each year is getting to spend time with family.

We were even able to help Sarah celebrate her 3rd birthday while we were there. She makes such a cute cowgirl!

You call it the Executive Committee Report, I call it naptime!



I was a little worried about how Lily would handle the trip, but she was an absolute angel. We would take the shuttle to the convention hall in the mornings and attend a little of the session, then spend some time in the exhibit hall. Afternoons were reserved for naps, and in the evenings we played it by ear. What did Lydia and Nathan do during all of this? One of the great things about the SBC is the wonderful childcare that is provided. Lydia, Nathan and Jim went to a special children's conference each day. Lydia loved every minute of the conference and refused to miss a session. Nathan wasn't quite as excited about it as Lydia was, but at least he has a counselor who sympathized with his need for a nap!

No trip to Louisville would be complete without a trip to the Louisville Slugger Factory. I will have to say that Matt and Nathan enjoyed this trip more than Lydia and I did. Nathan hammed it up in front of the giant bat outside the factory, then he and his dad posed with Mickey Mantle's bat.

After leaving Louisville Thursday morning, we drove to Petersburg, KY to visit the Creation Science Museum. It's a wonderful place and certainly worth the trip. Our only complaints were that we didn't have enough time to spend there and that it was extremely crowded. The museum starts with Creation and the first Adam, goes through the fall of man and the flood, and concludes with the last Adam: Jesus Christ. I hope that when our kids are older and better able to understand all the subject matter that we will be able to take them back. It would be an incredible field trip! There is a petting zoo outside the museum, and I wish that my camera had been ready when this camel stuck his head into Lily's stroller looking for something to eat. He did get a mouthful of her burp cloth before Nathan showed up with some real food!

We had planned a stop at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky on our way to Louisville, but when we stopped and saw the crowds and that the tour we wanted was sold out, we decided to buy tickets in advance and stop on our way home. Everyone enjoyed the cave but Lily. I don't know if it was the cold clammy air or having to ride in the front carrier, but she let it be known that there wouldn't be many caving expeditions in her near future. Lydia's favorite thing about our tour was the "cave bacon," a rock formation on the cave ceiling that looks a lot like raw bacon. Nathan's favorite thing? Not the beautiful rock formations or the underground lake--oh, no! It was something dear to any four year old boy's heart--cave crickets!

I-65 between Nashville and Louisville is littered with tourist attractions. We didn't drive five miles without seeing a big brown sign directing us to this cave or that museum. Between Louisville and Mammoth Cave, we couldn't resist stopping in Hodgenville to see the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. After leaving Mammoth Cave, we stopped at the Shaker Museum and Historic Site. I would have included these stops in my alliterative title, but somehow "Confederacy Invading President" and "Convulsers" just didn't fit!

We had a great trip, but it was so nice to pull into our driveway Friday night and know that we were home!