Cedar falls-Juner.

Our next stop was at Cedar Falls.

We had to walk down a steep path and over a bridge, but it was worth it.

They let Sadie and I take off our shoes and wade in the water. I wasn't too bold, but Sadie had so much fun that she required an outfit change when she was done (maybe we could see some of the pictures of it if Aunt Kate and Uncle Adam would update their blog- hint, hint).

Mama spotted two big snapping turtles. She suspected they might be the two mean turtles that Miss Colleen and Miss Leah made into house pets while they were in college. I wasn't so impressed, so I threw my snack cup in the water from 10 feet up. Mama had just gotten done cleaning up someone else's mess at the top of the hill, so she couldn't leave it behind. Luckily it floated down stream a little and PawPaw was able to fish it out with a large branch.

Look close and you can spot a snake we saw.

The reason I'm leaning so far out is because mama really stunk. She ran three miles (it was a pretty hot day) only for me to pee all over her. We had to drive home with the windows open.

Papa and mama decided I could be quite pretty if it weren't for my two front teeth. Looks like I inherited the Seibert teeth and I'll be very close to me orthodontist as a teenager.

The walk uphill was hard, especially if you were carrying a little boy on your shoulders. We've got the best PawPaw ever.

Ash Cave- Henry.

On our last day, mama was itching to get out and do some hiking. Unfortunately for her, no one else had that itch. So she convinced Aunt Kate and Unkie Adam to drop her off three miles from Ash Cave so she could hike and meet us there. It was such a nice day that she ended up running (okay, jogging) the trail and had the most enjoyable jog she's had in a long time.

She knew she was getting close to Ash Cave because she heard voices below. She looked over the edge of the trail and saw this. The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is what she was literally standing on the edge of:

That's a 90 foot drop. With no barriers to stop anyone from going over. Grams told a funny story about taking papa and unkie to Ash Cave when they were little. It didn't sound like she had very much fun. Mama didn't let us go up to the top.

Juner and her chicken legs insisted on walking the whole way just like the big kids.

Ash Cave isn't really a caved, but all the limestone has been washed away so you can walk under it.

Plus there's water running over the edge of it and into a little stream at the bottom.

I had a good time running around but insisted on taking off my shoes and cleaning out the sand about 10 times.

Mama took this cool shot of the water coming down. The sun was just right.

Kids and grandkids. If you look close, you can see that everyone is wearing a Marion Ohio t-shirt. The girls scored these gems at the Walmart and even made matching shirts for us kids. You know you're jealous.

What a good looking family.

I was getting rowdy, so Aunt Girl threatened to throw me in the water.

Juner did some rock climbing followed by rock jumping.

Despite my protests, mama made me climb this big rock to pose with PawPaw and Aunt Girl. I did have fun jumping off..

Mama likes this picture because she thinks it really shows Juner's personality well. Messy hair and a scowl. She's just seconds away from pushing us all off the rock and taking it for her own.

Pawps couldn't resist climbing a fallen tree, but Grams made him come down because he's too valuable for the Army to lose.

Back at the car, Sadie begged her Uncle Brandon to go get something to eat already, but he said they had one more hike to go on.

Farm tour- part two- Juner.

Henry was so impressed by the hay ride, that he never stopped talking about it. Then he even started mumbling about buggy rides in his sleep, so mama called up the owners and begged them to hook up the buggy so a three year old would be happy. Luckily, they were very obliging and called us down for a second ride.

Henry was very excited to ride in the buggy and only wished that they had added a battery so they could put the flaps down and turn on the light inside.

He was invited to sit up front and hold the reigns, but he's still a wimp and chose to sit int he back instead.

Since mama missed the hay ride, she got to ride in the buggy. She was a afraid it would tip when they were riding on the side of the hill, but luckily it stayed upright and she didn't have to worry about surviving any of the bizarre Little House on the Prairie buggy accident story lines.

Here they are cozy inside the buggy. There were a few more pictures, but mama found out that her beloved Milwaukee Brewers shirt is not very flattering in photos and, as the editor of the blog, she has deemed them unworthy for public viewing. It's too bad too, because she really loves that shirt. But we are moving to South Carolina, and I don't think the big Miller Light logo stamped on the back would be very appropriate down there.

Sadie and I tried to roll the buggy on our own, but we're still not big enough.

While Henry was enjoying the buggy ride, I got to feed the goats again. I spent a good deal of time walking from the fence to the hay bales over and over. I really liked the goats.

The owner's grandkids spent their time trying to capture the kittens and even let Henry hold one. It wasn't as bad as he makes it look in this picture.

They didn't let me hold one, but I did my best to be gentle when I petted it. This little girl was very patient with Sadie and I, even though it landed her quite a few scratches from the kitten trying to escape.

Papa got some good "Little Juner on the Prairie Shots." I could totally pass for Carrie in the opening sequence.

Looks like we put the hat on too late. My nose is a little red from the sun.

I ate flowers until papa made me stop.

What a pretty place.

At the cabin- Henry.

Like we said before, our cabin had so many fun things to do, we hardly every left.

I pulled the girls around in the wagon.

We headed up to the pond to play a little lawn golf. That was cut short by Little Miss I Can't Share. It worked out well because mama discovered her new favorite game- Bocce Ball. She's still not very good, but it is more of an equalizer that Cornhole or Lawn Golf, which she normally finishes scoreless. (Ask Grams about the night we got her to play drinking Bocce ball. Let's just say that the 1.5 wine coolers didn't drink themselves!)

There were lots of books to read and usually someone to read them to us.

PawPaw brought me a Lightning McQueen fishing pole and we had fun catching fish.

We caught a big one and I didn't want to touch it but we had to hold it high so June couldn't grab it.

What an exhibitionist. By the end of the night she had the straps stretched down to her belly button. How modest.

Papa and Aunt Girl celebrated the beautiful weather with a catch.

The girls did venture into town occasionally (usually to buy more ice cream). Mama and Grams found two historic Logan walking tours and dragged Girl along on the 27 block, 30 stop tour. (Who knew there was so much history in Logan?) It was a very hot day, but they made it through thanks to the 89 cent Speedway Coke slushie. (Mama had three while she was there. No, Aunt Jenni, she's not pregnant, she just really like frozen cokes all the time.)

Hocking Hills- Part 1- Juner.

The Cooper/Turner family took a family vacation to Hocking Hills two years ago and had so much fun, we all decided to go back. We stayed in the same cabin as last time, not only because it suited us so well, but also because it is located on a great piece of land that includes a pond and a working farm. Henry, PawPaw and Papa managed to find a level spot and slept out in the tent one night, but we forgot to take pictures.

One morning, we decided to head down to the farm to check out the animals.

I really liked the goats, and we were all surprised to find out that goats can be gassy enough so that they look pregnant. (One was literally twice as wide as a normal goat.)

It took me a while to get used to how agressive goats can be if you try to feed them hay.

But I wasn't scared at all when we found 3 little kitties to chase.

Aunt Kate caught one and I got to pet it.

Later, the owners hitched up their horses for a hayride. Henry was thrilled to ride, but once I caught sight of those horses, I didn't want anything to do with it. They were too big. I cried and tried to jump for 5 minutes before mama and I got off and skipped the rest of the ride.

I prefer this form of transportation better.

Zipline- Mama.

After 6 weeks of almost non-stop travel, we finally made it back to Winston today. Just so you can get an understanding of how many miles we've logged, here's a quick rundown of the past 6 weeks (and the number of hours it took us to drive there):
Ney, OH(10 hours)
Winston Salem (10 hours)
Outer Banks (6 hours)
Winston Salem (6 hours)
Ney (10 hours)
Marion (3 hours)
Columbus (1 hour)
Winston Salem (7 hours)
Clemson (4 hours)
Columbus (9 hours)
Marion (1 hour)
Hocking Hills (2 hours)
Columbus (1 hour)
Dallas (6 hours)
Columbus (the better part of 12 hours)
Marion (1 hour)
Winston (8 hours)

Now that it's over, we're exhausted and the minivan (megafun) is in desperate need of an oil change. You've seen updates from the first half of our trips, but are probably wondering what the second half is about (especially that quick jaunt over to the hottest city we've ever visited).

Well, fair readers, you're in for a few days of intense blogging. I've got 8 huge posts in the making, so get your reading glasses out and get ready for a lot of pictures.

We'll start you out with what we were teasing you with on our last post.

Papa, Aunt Girl and I had the best time on the Hocking Hill Canopy Tours. 10 zips lines, 3 suspended bridges, one short hike, and only about 3 almost panic attacks. Here's Girl in action.

Looking pretty awesome if I must say so myself. I think I did pretty well, despite the fact that I completely forgot to brake on the first run and almost kicked the guide off the platform. (I didn't forget after that.) In spite of my fear of heights, I was leaning on the edge of the platforms by the time we were done. It helped that we always had at least two lines keeping us from falling.

Pikes had a great time. As it turns out, a huge adrenaline rush is a great treatment for arthritis.

All three of us on the bridge. Look at papa grinning.

And back on solid ground.

None of these shots really do any justice to how cool the tour was. We got a great view of beautiful Hocking Hills, especially when we were flying through it 100 feet in the air.It was totally worth the exorbitant price we had to pay. Hopefully, we can still afford the new house.