Lava Tubes

What can I say? I have lived in Flag for 3+ years and have never known about the lava tubes. I blame it on my friends that never told me about them J. Anyways, my dear friend Janina came over to watch the kids so we could go to these tubes. For those of you that don’t know, here is a little about them.

This mile-long lava tube cave was formed roughly 700,000 years ago by molten rock that erupted from a volcanic vent in nearby Hart Prairie. The top, sides and bottom of the flow cooled and solidified first, after which the insides of the lava river continued to flow emptying out the present cave.

There are small wave-like undulations in the floor are the remains of ripples frozen in the last trickle of molten rock that flowed from the cave. Stone icicles hanging from the ceiling show where a final blast of volcanic heat caused the rock to partially re-liquefy and drip.

The cave is as cool as 32-42° even in summer, and you may even find some ice inside. Lumbermen working for the Saginaw and Manestee Lumber Company discovered Lava River Cave about 1915 and homesteaders are said to have visited lava River Cave sometime around the turn of the century. According to historians, homesteaders would collect large quantities of ice from the cave. The ice was used for refrigeration, cooling drinks and maybe even to help create a rare summer treat- ice cream.

Here are just a few pics of us and the couple that went with us. Greg and Chelsea are the younger versions of Pat and me. They are great!!! So enjoy and keep it in mind that if you are ever here you NEED to go there.

The picture above is the mouth. A little intimidating at first but well worth it.
This is a side shaft that we all went in to. It required the army crawl and what not but it was really cool
At the end of the main tube is a little shaft that Pat had to try out.
This is Pat going into the small shaft

Below is our great friends Greg and Chelsea and us. The other couple is a mini version of Pat and myself.

It is hard to tell but the tube comes to a part where you have to turn left or right.

Friendly Conversations

Today was a rather unique day. Both kids took a nap at the same time allowing be to enjoy some cleaning. We all know that having kids rarely leaves any down time. As I was folding cloths I got a call from my dear friend Marry.

Now, why would I blog about a phone call you might ask. Simple, I HATE talking on the phone and 4 kids sleeping at the same time is almost impossible. Also, i broke a personal record. But miracles do happen. Riley, Peyton, Jack, and Daisy all took a nap at the same time while us moms had an enjoyable phone conversation. And that is saying something coming from 2 people that dislike the phone. But it was great. As far as breaking a personal record, I talked for 56 mins and 32 sec. HOLLY COW!!!!!! Today was wonderful and I enjoyed catching up. I am glad that the Hummel family is doing good and I am looking forward to the day when we get to catch up again.

Wow!!! I updated Finally

Holy cow!!! I am finally updating. It is about time. I know!!!! So what has happened since Halloween you ask? A lot. So, with a brief overview with a few favorite pictures I shall tell you. First was thanksgiving. It was wonderful and spent with family at my grandparents’ house. Then was Christmas. My favorite time of the year. My house was crazy cute and decorated from head to toe. The kids loved it and were spoiled rotten. My Grammie retold the Christmas story the entire atmosphere fear was amazing.

That brings us to spring break. We went all over doing a bunch of small things and hitting as many zoos as time would allow. We went to Albuquerque, NM and went to old town, the zoo, the museum. Then we went to Eagar for a few days. Our trip ended in Phoenix after we went the wild life zoo and the Tucker family reunion. It was great and my beautiful family loved it. Especially the wild life petting zoo. Peyton would giggle every time an animal got close and Riley was sure to hug everyone.

We have enjoyed snow, conquered RSV, and wreaked havoc. We struggled to take family pictures. And that was an adventure in itself. It has been great. The past week has brought more adventures. Peyton has learned to walk. He does great unless a camera is put on him and the weather has warmed up some so that is great.

I love my life. I have the greatest little family with a wonderful husband that never says no to me. For the most part I am treated like a queen and I love being spoiled. So enjoy the pics and I will try to update more often.

My mom was way sick but she still went to the zoo with us. She is a trooper











Luke airforce base had an show and we saw it the same time as the zoo. 2-in-1
This Spider monkey was awesome








Thanksgiving with my Grammie and Granddad.