Visiting the Marsdens (Day 1)

This weekend, we took some time off and drove down to Huntsville to visit Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Richard and Sarah Kate. Since we had such a busy few days, we decided to post some pictures in a three part series. (Hey, if they can make two movies out of the seventh Harry Potter book, we can make three posts from a three day vacation.)

Day 1 - Thursday, August 14, 2008.

We arrived in Huntsville at 11:30 p.m. eastern time on Wednesday night. Hazel had fallen asleep in the car around 7:30 p.m. and unfortunately, she awoke right as we were pulling in the driveway, so she was ready to play! We played for about a half hour and then tried desperately to get a little sleep. Hazel eventually went back to sleep, but then woke up around 6:30 a.m. central time. After breakfast and some play time, followed by a morning snack, Stephanie and Sarah Kate took us to Cathedral Caverns State Park to hike through the cave. It was fun, and Hazel LOVED testing the acoustics in the cave by singing as loud as she could and listening for the echo. She wasn't the least bit disturbed by the bats either, even though Momma kinda was. After a 1.3 mile hike to the back of the cave and then a 1.3 mile hike back to the entrance, we had a picnic lunch before heading back to Huntsville.

When we got back to Huntsville, Aunt Stephanie and Sarah Kate volunteered to watch Hazel so that Glenn and I could see "Batman - The Dark Knight." We got to sit in the over-21 VIP balcony and be grown-ups again for just a little bit, and it was a nice break. After the movie, we met the others for dinner out at the Marsdens' favorite Mexican restaurant. When we got home, Aunt Stephanie and Sarah Kate had a surprise gift for Hazel. I would describe it, but words won't do it justice... You'll just have to see the pictures below.

Aunt Stephanie and Hazel are best pals already!

Cathedral Caverns holds the world record for the largest cave opening (plus three other world records that I can't remember off the top of my head.)

And.... yet another fabulous picture ruined by Glenn's inability to look normal in photos.

Apparently, the explorer who discovered the cave called it Bat Cave before he reached the back and decided it was too pretty to call it that, and changed the name to Cathedral Cavern.

Hazel had such a great time in the cave, she hardly noticed that lunch was an hour late!

Among the gifts that Aunt Stephanie and Sarah Kate gave Hazel were a pink bow for her hair, a pink tutu and pink and white shoes that squeak when she walks. She LOVES her gifts and was very proud to show them off for the camera.

Hazel gets a little distracted by the doggies, but you can tell that she is going to love squeaking all over the house very soon.

p.s. Hazel has three teeth now, and is working on a fourth. I will try to get a picture in the next few days to post.