Twisters

With Wisconsin in our rearview, we set our sights on Kentucky. Rick's grandmother lives in Simpsonville, and we planned to spend a few days with her before my NJHS conference in St.Louis.

On the way, we stopped to tour the Jelly Belly factory. We got to ride a special little train around the warehouse, learning the history of the candy and how it's made. Did you know Ronald Reagan loved them? Apparently they invented a blue one so he could celebrate his inauguration with red white and blue jelly beans? Neither did we. Upon finishing our tour, we were also given small bags of free candy. I have no idea what the savory bean flavor was that Rick got, but I know he could not get it out of his mouth fast enough!

Staying with the Rudicels (Rick's grandma and her husband) was wonderful. "GG" (as the girls call her) found our strong willed Bella to be endlessly funny. The girls were thrilled that this experienced grandma had endless snacks and patience on hand. When I incredulously told them that her breakfast table was not GG's Buffet, she calmly told me that it was. Bella was in heaven.

One night during our stay, the rough weather that had followed us down from Wisconsin got pretty rough and the weather radio kept going off. Apparently, just after we'd put the girls to bed, the tornado warnings got stronger and we were all watching the sky and listening to the warning sirens. I have never heard tornado sirens before- I couldn't help thinking of "Twister". 

We decided to be cautious, woke the kids up and bundled them into the car to head down the road to Rick's Uncle Tim's house- where the basement was a bit bigger and sturdier. Kaya played with Rick's cousin Brock in the game room, the rest of us watched the weathermen on tv get all kinds of excited as they gestured wildly at the radar maps. While I did not want to be in a tornado's path, I couldn't help watching the sky with some excitement.

Eventually, the danger passed, and we got the girls home to bed. I finished my blog on the Deyoung Zoo and we headed towards bed ourselves. It had been a very exciting night.

The other exciting parts of our trip were a driving tour of Lousiville one night after dinner at Golden Corral (Kaya's favorite), a day at the Hershey family home (Rick's uncle and his family) and a short visit with our old friend Shaun in Frankfort. Unfortunately, the driving tour showed us the tornado's damage around Churchill Downs. No horses had been hurt, but some stables and buildings were damaged. I think I'm glad I didn't get to see a tornado touch down. Frankfort was a fun time, at a place called The Dragon Pub. It was on a hill overlooking the Kentucky River- so beautiful!

the Yum Center made us giggle- alot.