Kentucky Derby Museum

The first trip this summer was to the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs in Louisville. One would think that since I live in Kentucky, love horses, and even worked on a thoroughbred farm that I would have been here before. Not so.

I bought tickets for two at a fund-raiser auction at a local school last fall, excited to finally get to go...then Louisville was flooded and the museum went under water. It re-opened just before Derby, so I waited until school was out instead of fighting the crowds.

Luke and I arrived well before noon, and took pictures in front of the Barbaro statue and the building itself. A nice older lady offered to take a picture of both of us, so I handed her my iPhone and explained how to use it. She took a couple of pictures, both with her finger prominently featured. :)

We checked in and got our hands stamped, then I expalined everything we saw to Luke. At first he wasn't really that interested, but he did enjoy the starting gates and the fake horse he got to ride on. I read as much as I could as quickly as I could, doing a decent job of entertaining a 5 year old along the way. Then, the maintenance man finished fixing a couple of the virtual racehorses. It was like Mario Kart Wii with horses - you actually sat in the saddle, held the reins and shifted your weight in the saddle to win the race. I enjoyed a couple of races as well!

After spending time inside, they called for a Backside Tour, which is included in the standard ticket. Unfortunately, the weather was warm and Luke was whining about not being able to walk, but after a brief time out on a bench in front of the 20 other people, he straightened up and enjoyed the tour. I was very interested to see the track, the paddock and everything else they could show us.

As for a brief review - I think the museum is better suited to slightly older children, maybe 8 and up, or younger if they have a definite interest in horses or racing. We had a great time, though, and I would do it again!

I'm Back!

After a writing hiatus, I have decided that this is an ideal time to begin again. Since the autumn of 2008 so much has happened in my life. While I cannot go into it all, let me try to sum it up.

I worked really hard on earning my MBA at American Intercontinental University and graduated in May of 2009. During that time, some things at home suffered and it was a really tough summer. Last fall I decided to quit working in the family company. It was a difficult decision, but my husband and I decided it was the best for our family. I was relieved of a load of responsibility and excited about being a stay-at-home mom for a time while I figured out what to do with my life.

I spent a couple months going through the holidays and feeling blah, probably because of having so much time on my hands (DS age 5 was in preschool). DH and I decided we had room to spare in the house and started foster parenting classes through the state (KY). During the 12 weeks of classes, I had a round of doctor's appointments, a surgery and recovery, then it was spring! I have attempted my first garden and learned a lot about how to take care of our farmland.

So, back to present time. School is out so I'm back to full-time motherhood and waiting on that first phone call saying a foster child needs a place to stay. I am learning about natural living - gardening, essential oils and health remedies, safe cleaning products and the like. I have field trips planned each week for my soon-to-be-kindergartner with a good friend of mine and her 2 little ones.

My plan is to write about our summer adventures, and hopefully to soon write about the roller coaster ride of foster parenting. Join me!

American Halloween

 

So, here is the homemade American Flag outfit for his 3 yr old Halloween. Found the idea on line in a list of costumes, with no pictures, and it turned out better than I expected. The tri-cornered hat is from Williamsburg, VA, where we took a vacation earlier in October.

 

"Is he Paul Revere?" "What a little patriot!" "Hey, Uncle Sam!" Not one person guessed that he was simply the flag itself. I thought it was fairly clear...

5 Steps to Take Our Country Back

Please watch this 9 minute video:



This speech was made in 1974 by the founder of the John Birch Society. What he said would come to pass in the first half of his speech has already occurred. The second half of his speech has not yet happened - but God willing it will.

Please spread this video around the country - let's educate all Americans on what needs to be done for freedom to once again reign in this nation!

Jott

It worked! Jott is so cool :) You can make to-do list and notes on their site, or use the desktop application, or....call a toll-free number and SPEAK your to-do's, twitters, blogs, notes, status updates for facebook and more! It transcribes your words pretty accurately and instantaneously. I'm so geeked out. Oh, and there is an app for iPhone too, which is how I found out about it. All my notes and to-do's are updated everywhere at the same time, no wires required. All free, unless you want the premium account that does even more cool stuff.

If you have an iPhone, you MUST try this!