Dinosaurs Abound at Dinosaur World

Spinosaurus, T-Rex, Triceratops, Brachylophosaurus, and many other types of dinosaurs can be found at Dinosaur World in Kentucky. If you have children that are infatuated with the prehistoric creatures known as dinosaurs, I highly recommend this as a spot to see.

Located near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky right off of I-65 is Dinosaur World. Here you will find 150 replicas of dinosaurs in their natural settings with signs explaining each species. There is also a playground for the little children as well as an area where they can mine for gems, there is a fossil dig, a museum, a nice gift shop and a cave to watch a short movie in. Tickets are reasonable for what it is. A child must have an excavation pass for the mining and the fossil dig, but it is well worth the money.

The path back into the dinosaur exhibits is paved and a fairly smooth walk. There are many benches along the path for resting and many photo opportunities are available. There are dinosaurs of all sizes, shapes, and colors for children to see.

It would be easy to spend a good half day here and the kids can walk to the gigantic dinosaur that they see while on the interstate to have a great photo opportunity as well. While in that area, there is also a small mammoth exhibit too. 

We took a trip here on Saturday with the grand doll as she is fascinated with dinosaurs and she had a blast! She ran up to each exhibit and was so excited to see what the next dinosaur would be. She talked and looked. She was always anxious for what was next.

She truly enjoyed the mining part and brought home an entire bag of gems to show off. She even found a hunk of "gold". She was more than thrilled to tell the young lady at the counter about it.

A beautiful Saturday making memories that will last a life time! 

Until we meet again, may your trail be blessed and your ride be smooth!

It's Her Birthday!

Four years ago, my life changed drastically when my grand doll arrived. She was a complete surprise and my daughter had just found out the day before that she was pregnant. Yes, I know it seems odd for a woman not to know, but she did not. She had not gained much weight and as a chunky gal who always gained weight in the winter, what she had gained was not abnormal.

She had recently changed birth control and so they had given her a pregnancy test just a month before that was negative. She had been sick one morning, but they had a new cleaner at work and we thought that it was a reaction to that. She had been just as active as in the past. Nothing was a sign of pregnancy.

She began to complain of pains near her kidneys and so I made an appointment for her and went with her. Three pregnancy tests later and we still did not know because only one showed positive and with a physical exam, the doctor did not feel a child. After an hour or so, we decided an ultrasound was a good idea. Were we shocked when the technician announced that yes, pregnant and due in three weeks! ( Panic for me set in- nothing prepared).

Due to her dad being very upset as he felt she knew and lied to us, my daughter decided to spend the night with her sister. Around 7 a.m. the next morning, I was shocked by a phone call that stated that she was at the hospital and in labor. I told my husband and he refused to go, so off I went alone to help her with the labor as much as I could. Upon arriving at the hospital, I learned that her water had broke around 5 a.m. She was nervous scared and not sure what she should do as far as the baby was concerned. Her boyfriend was ok but not someone that I expected to raise a family. She worked as a housekeeper at the local state park lodge. She had considered adoption, but was not sure. I would support any decision, but she had to know that I would help if I could with the child, but if she kept him/her that she was going to be the parent and responsible for the child.

At 11:49 with her sister and I by her side, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! I was still in disbelief that this had all happened, but here we were with a child. She decided to keep her and as I held her in the hospital, my eyes opened to the fact that I could never imagine life without her now. She was perfect! I counted fingers and toes as she had so many factors against her. My daughter had been barrel racing the weekend before and she had taken birth control the entire pregnancy as well as no prenatal care. UGH! Thankfully, she was alive and healthy!! I was in love! My heart had a love that I had never felt before.

Here we are a few years later and we have had a wonderful day. We had lunch at Dairy Queen where she was treated with a free cone for her birthday and then we went shopping and she is quietly now playing with the new toys that she picked out. My love for her grows daily and she is my world! I would go to the ends of the earth for her and I would stand in the way of anyone attempting to hurt her.

Oh the Rain!

As I have watched many videos recently of the flooding that is occurring in areas like Texas and Oklahoma, I sit in amazement of the increasing severe weather that it seems we are seeing throughout the country. I truly believe that Mother Nature is mad at all of us!

It is raining so hard here right now that I can not see the pole light that sits just past my daughter's house and I can normally see if perfectly. I hear rumbles of thunder outside as well, but it sounds as though it is further north of us. Severe storms are being predicted and at least one school has said they will have a two hour delay due to the weather. Yesterday, we had rain most of the day and cool temperatures as well as it was down right cold the day before and when I let the dog out just a bit ago, it is hot here and very humid. UGH! I believe our humidity is to be 91% today, which is almost unbearable!

I am ready for the rains to move out and for the cool to be gone. I am truly so far behind in my summer work that I don't think it will ever get done. Every day that it rains makes it a little harder. Animal homes need to be repaired, fences need worked on, yardwork needs to be done, and a lot of outside painting, but the weather just will not cooperate.

I don't have photos of it raining and storming, but I will share this one that I found on Pixabay. I love their free photo stock as they have most anything that I can need for a graphic or blog post.

Everyone stay safe out there! May your trail be blessed and your ride be smooth!

Farm Kitchen Remodel

Twelve years ago, my husband and I purchased our house from a friend on contract in order to begin a hobby farm so that our girls were raised away from the hustle and bustle of city life. We knew the house needed some TLC but it only needed paint and one floor replaced to move in so we did the simple and moved in with full intentions of fixing the house up. Unfortunately, life and the business that came with the hobby farm took away from the house. It was something to be done later. 

Well, a few months ago, I began to decide to redo part of the kitchen. The yellow paint was dingy and blah and I wanted something to cheer the place up and look more like the farmhouse kitchen that I wanted. I knew that I could not do the complete redesign that I was hoping for, but I could do some paint and a backsplash. Plus, I knew I wanted to make a nice display of the milk box and bottle that is from the company that my grandpa worked for. 

Here is the before picture of the kitchen wall behind my counter. BLAH!

Here is the same area after the backsplash. (Pardon the mess)

This is the other side of the counter without décor. 

Here is the same side with the décor that I picked for now. 

Of course, the minute that I began to make some changes something went wrong and the stove quit working. I had some minor issues with it but thought that it would last a little longer. After discussing with my husband that I truly wanted stainless steel appliances, we decided that we would just replace the stove and refrigerator, as both of ours were old. 

As we were shopping for the appliances, I mentioned how I have always wanted to add a hood range to the stove area as well as a cabinet above the stove. My husband mentioned that he would like to put a large storage cabinet next to the stove and remove the small one that I had on one side that did not match anything else. Well, that trip turned into one expensive trip as we purchased all of the items. 

Here is the choice of cabinet that we chose mainly due to the size of it and the storage we needed. 

Here is a photo of what the stove area looks like now, minus a lot of the stuff we have sitting around as we are now in a full remodel minus the floor and the lower cabinets. 

While we were talking of the décor that I wanted, my husband mentioned that he had an old ladder that he could cut and put above the area where our washer and dryer are in a nook of the kitchen. I said that would be nice as we plan to enclose them anyway with some folding doors. Plus, it would make some nice storage for my pottery. 

What a nice addition to the kitchen!

Here it is with my sunflower pottery on it and some of my other décor. An absolute wonderful idea!!!!

The new paint is not the exact color I was hoping for as I wanted a light grey, but it turned out to look bluish grey, but works well with the backsplash paper that I used. So far, I am thrilled with all of the work we have done. Including the hanging pan rack and the new kitchen island/bar that he purchased so that it was stainless as well. 

While painting, we found that one of our top cabinets was broke and so we have now purchased new top cabinets and I will show you photos of that once we finish them. I have also started a coffee bar area, which I should have close to finished by the weekend and I will make a new post about it. 

Many happenings here currently and I feel like my world is topsy turvy due to all of the mess, but I know it is for the best. 

Until we meet again, may your ride be smooth and your trail be blessed.

It's A Royal Baby Boy!!!!

All eyes have been on the royals recently as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was awaiting the birth of her first child. Today, the Duke and Duchess welcomed a 7 pound 3 ounce baby boy into the world at 5:26 a.m. This child will be the first interracial baby in British monarch recent  history. Many eyes have wondered just when this child would make its' appearance and both Harry and Meghan have been keeping things fairly low key concerning this child.

It appears as though the Duke and Duchess have managed to have a royal birth that did not have the hoopla that seems to come along with the normal royal birth. Meghan's mother was with the couple during the birth and the child is now the 7th heir to the throne of England. The child was delivered into the world before it was announced that she was even in labor. No name has been given yet and, to my knowledge, no pictures have been seen yet either of mother or child.

Prince Harry made an announcement and said that mother and child are doing well and that the child is " to die for". He seems very happy to be announcing the birth of his child. As first time parents, I am sure they will be taking some time to thoroughly enjoy the new bundle of joy that has appeared in their lives at this time.

Whether the race of the child comes into play anywhere in the British tabloids is still hard to say but you can be quite certain that someone along the way will ask questions or make comments about it. What everyone needs to remember is that it is a sweet and innocent baby that has been brought into the world by two loving parents and the color of it's skin certainly does not change the fact that it is a royal baby boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Kentucky Derby- The Odds of Winning

For a tradition to continue 145 years is amazing and the Kentucky Derby has done just that. A horse race that begins the chase to the Triple Crown happens the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. This race symbolizes fun, excitement, honor, and heartbreak to me as the 1 1/4 mile race brings so many people to Kentucky to watch the excitement and with many bets on the line, heartbreak surely happens fast.

Twenty horses take part in the race following a two week Derby Festival. These horses are bred to be winners and trainers have gone through grueling hours to get them to this event with the odds against them to be the winner. The hope of winning is what makes them train as they do. Three year old horses are brought to the race with hopes of winning the Derby, then the Preakness, and then the Belmont to become a triple crown winner, but every horse owner and jockey present know that the chances of that happening are slim.

Many bets are placed on these horses and money seems to be no object at the Derby, but in reality there is quite a lot riding on these horses and for some people this race is a run to victory and for others it is a huge loss. I have been researching this year and although, I won't bet, I thought that I would share the odds for the race.

1. War of Will (15-1)

2. Tax (20-1)

3. By My Standards (15-1)

4. Gray Magician (50-1)

5. Improbable (5-1)

6. Vekoma (15-1)

7. Maximum Security (8-1)

8. Tacitus (8-1)

9. Plus Que Parfait (30-1)

10. Cutting Humor (30-1)

11. Haikal (30-1)

12. Code of Honor (12-1)

13. Win Win Win (12-1)

14. Master Fencer (50-1)

15. Game Winner (9-2)

16. Roadster (5-1)

17. Long Range Toddy (30-1)

18. Spinoff (30-1)

19. Country House (30-1)

20. Bodexpress (30-1)

Game Winner, Improbable and Roadster are favored to win as they are trained by Bob Baffert, a trainer that has 5 career Derby wins. I personally, like the horse Improbable. 

However, I like the name Grey Magician and although his odds are not good, I would like to take a chance on him. 

( I can't get this post to line out right now, so I am going to close.) Whichever horse you choose to win, comment below and we will see how many of us should bet and who should not.