2 year anniversary of Gotcha day and Weekend with the grandparents, day 2 and 3!

On with the story.....finally! (sidenote: I do have a Karen weekend post but I have to catch up first with back posts!)

So, we left our fabulous lunch and playtime with cousins to travel to our "surprise" for the grandparents and Nick. An Irish themed train ride thru southern/central Ky to celebrate Gotcha Day! The Irish/St. Pat's theme for the grandparents and the train ride for Nick!

Oh, my could it be....a very exclusive, one of a kind picture with me, the mama! Since our camera was on the blink......I was in more than one on this fun weekend since Ata Bob was the usual photog!

We left the Kentucky Railway Museum in the Dinner car and lucked out with the entertainment being one table away....this was awesome luck o'the Irish side of the Kitzman/Tracy clan because Nick was the ONLY child and it was Close quarters! He loved the music and entertained everyone by dancing in the aisles after we finished eating a surprisingly very good meal!

Nick in the "IRISH zone"....this picture cracks me up! It really was great music and we had a great time celebrating family and two whole years with the Kazmanian Devil!

The very handsome Kitzman men!

We had a harrowing ride back to Pat's parents condo with a hilarious encounter with the GPS guidance on a round-a-bout. Pat and I had never been to this part of ky either so it was the blind leading the blind!

Day 2 included a visit to the Dinosaur museum and Nick's first attempt at miniature golf.

You can actually see these wooly Mammoths from bluegrass pkwy along with a big obnoxious T-rex which was the official place that our camera really quick working so no pic.

We ended the day with a round of miniature golf and theatre.....Nick providing the drama! He could not comprehend that his ball would not go in the whole at first putt so in true 5 year old fashion proceeded to rant and sigh and toss his putter......maybe he will be a pro? Now, this was the most hilarious golf venue any of us had ever been a part of until this day. We , thankfully, were the only golfers and the equipment was just in a hut for you to grab and use. We are talking ripped up carpet, holes, broken windmills, rusted ramps.....it was awesome! I actually played a killer game.....hole in one even! I vote NO MORE nice courses for me! :)

Day 3 took us to Lost River Cave in Bowling Green. It was a short boat ride but Nick loved it. The cave was well known as a big band spot (Benny Goodman and the like!). The opening had a big bandstand and dance floor. Apparently, it was known for its "natural" air conditioning so you could dance all night in the heat of the summer! Nick was great on the boat ride and we even had to practically lay flat to get into the main part of the cave......the ceiling was VERY low for the first few feet. He totally thought that was cool!

Getting ready to DUCK to go in the cave.


At the entrance building for the cave, they had a mining area for the kids to "mine" for stones found in the area. I think Pat and I enjoyed digging thru the rocks more than Nick. He has a nice collection of "jewels" as souvenirs!

We had a great lunch on the square in BG and drove by Western Ky Univ on the way back to the Condo. Yeah, they were the ones that didn't pay their coach millions and millions and actually made it to the NCAA tournament...hmmmm?

We had a great time with Grandma Ruth and Ata Bob and look forward to seeing them in June for their big 50th wedding anniversary celebration in Mexico....hopefully??

Spring break pictures and stories will be next and then the most anticipated Kcubed weekend rap up will debut.......

Technical difficulty and the Kcubed weekend!

Our camera has now kind of expired.....still can use it but the connection point to download the pictures is broken so now we will have to transfer another way which will take longer.....must solve this problem soon! I got lots of pics of Nick to show you! I did get some downloaded so I will work with those til we are up to date!

On another most FABULOUS note.......3 kazamommies are uniting this weekend for super-duper, nothing but relaxation, uninterrupted conversation chick weekend AND we all happen to be named Karen.....my friend here in town dubbed it the Kcubed weekend! We are going to a beautiful Inn in Ohio that has the word SPA in it so how bad can it be???? We have a cabin with a porch and hours of conversation time. Being "mature" first time moms, the conversation could go anywhere between matchbox cars to menopause! It is so gonna rock! I am making homemade caramel corn chex mix and beer cheese for snacking because all good girl weekends involve food, don't they?! Please pray for safe travel and health mercies for all of us.....will give fun details when we return!

And, I would be a horrible mom blogger if I didn't try to include just a few pictures of the reason you all still come here anyway! Nick has had a hard two weeks (including springbreak)....somehow, we think we rocked his security world by not taking Daddy with us to TX to visit Gma Martha and Ata Bill. I have a few good (funny now) stories to tell but will wait for more pictures....they are slowly and surely getting here ( got the train pics today....thanks Gma Ruth and Ata Bob!) We did manage to get some smiles at Easter so I will share those......unfortunately he shed his Easter garb quickly and we did not get an "Easter shot" but he is still the cutest bunny boy in Ky!

On a final note, Spring is a glorious season around central Ky. I am not sure why the only stereo type of Ky is barefoot and toothless people from the mountains?? kinda makes me mad because frankly, Central Ky is a bit on the wealthy side if you ask me and most horse barns rival the biggest mansions (which happen to be many) around here. But, THIS is why we love Ky....on a quick detour just a mere 5 minutes outside the main drag, below is what we experience, NOT trailers and moonshine! These horses were so beautiful with their babies that I made Pat stop so I could take a picture....Enjoy and LONG LIVE KY....moonshine, mansions and millionaire basketball coaches (yeah, not so happy about the last one but don't get me started on that!). :)

Grandparents and cousins, part 1

OK, OK.....feverishly trying to get caught up on the adventure's of Nick Nurik, private eye....remember 2 years ago, we made that name up for him in Kaz on one deliriously boring evening in minus,minus temp. apartment lockdown. Now, on to the story........

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As the snowbird Wisconsin Grandparents made their way back to the still cold north (yes, they were dreading it), they made plans for us all to be together at a timeshare (exchange) near mammoth caves....timeshares in Park City, Ky? I can hear the confusion in your voice......yes, they have "timeshares", No, Grandma and Ata Bob would not consider them prime real estate......ever!

BUT, I digress......we started out the trip wonderfully and fortunately being able to meet up with Pat's cousin Sarah and Family. I had only met them once at Pat's sister's wedding (we had the children that were banned to the nursery......must be why Nick and Ruby are so connected) but have chatted often with Sarah on FB.....love it! Her husband Tuck is from the Ft. Knox area (yes, the gold place) so we met them in Elizabethtown for a great lunch and fabulous park visit!

Our lunch at Cheddar's was followed by a visit to the big Etown mall for some play time while we waited for it to warm up outside......the sun came out and we headed to the park!

Our handsome Boy! Nick was excited to be with his cousins and we were also celebrating his Gotcha day! 2 whole years buddy.....can't even believe it!! We had more surprises to celebrate the big day later!!






Nick loves "babies" and always wants to help and make them laugh....so endearing but not quite sure Ruby and sweet Ezra below felt the same way! :) Nick is say tickle tickle or something of the sort.




Nick wanted so badly to help Ezra be happy! He was patting him on the head....awwww!







Nick is looking so cool and grown up here....I think he looks like he could be Yoko's and John's son.....what do you think? Is Ruby not the cutest little punkin ever!?!





He is totally into the bars right now.....he wants you to help him at this point but I fear it won't be long til he is monkeying across with ease.




I absolutely love this picture of Ezra that his mom took......she is our photog by the way...our camera was having issues! He is the cutest baby and has the greatest belly laugh ever!

Pat's mom, Ruth with her second grandson and great Niece, Ruby!

Nick has been into Knights and castles lately and was begging for a suit of Armor.....we found a nice set at Target and he HAD to take it to show Grandma and Ata Bob. He is thrilled to wear it most any time and gets a little mixed up because he says it so fast and calls it his "sh-army Army......instead of Shiny Armor! :)

We had a great time with the cousins and hope to make it an annual visit and playfest! Hope to see them in Wisconsin once and awhile too! We left them to go to our next adventure......an Irish themed/St. Patrick's day train ride and dinner. The grandparents have the pics on this one and we still don't have them downloaded or transferred to us for posting so be patient as I try to get all of the pictures collected. I may post out of order and go ahead and get started on our springbreak trip but you will just have to wait and see.......this is all I got for tonight. :)