Getting to Know Kentucky

One of the best ways to get to know your community is to go on field trips with your kids! I went with Madelyn on a tour of the downtown. We found out that  Elizabethtown was settled about 1779, when pioneers built three forts in the area.  It was designated as Elizabeth Town in 1797 when lots and streets were laid out by one of the original settlers, Colonel Andrew Hynes.  The town was named for his wife Elizabeth. It was so interesting!

 Then in October I went with Ian's class to a dairy farm just outside of town.

 They grow soybeans and tobacco, oh and pumpkins too.

There is a huge rivalry here between the University of Kentucky (in Lexington) and University of Louisville, we are still debating on which team we are going to cheer for, people are pretty passionate about their teams around here. Rylan wore a University of Louisville shirt to school and some teachers and students were either giving him high-fives or saying, “you are wearing the wrong team son!” We decided to check out a University of Kentucky football game.

 

 It was a super warm day but we all enjoyed the game.

In Louisville there is a great museum called the Kentucky Science Center, not sure why this giant gold naked man is by a children's museum but it made for a good laugh!

 They have a weather section where you can stand in front of a green screen and do a weather forecast.  We were laughing hysterically when Scott snuck into the screen.

 Across the street is the Slugger Museum where you can see them make Louisville Slugger wooden bats.

 There is a walking bridge called the Big Four Bridge that starts in Louisville, Kentucky and goes over the Ohio River into Jeffersonville, Indiana.  The bridge is 2 miles round trip.

We checked out the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest which is only about 35 minutes from us and did some hikes

I have been missing my hiking group in Hawaii so much!  There are plenty of hikes around us, just different scenery and a little bit farther away.   We found a big swing the kids enjoyed having their dad push them so high, look at those faces! Pure delight!

 This moment needed to be documented, Ian eating spinach, he was also having a great hair day! They have a tower you can climb up and look above the trees and see for miles and miles! It used to be used to watch for fires.

There are so many more wonderful places to explore here in Kentucky, we can't wait to see it all.