Dixie Caverns!

Today, after seeing someone's post on instagram, about their Dixie Caverns visit, it reminded me that our Summer Bucket List is still yet to be completed.  Dixie Caverns is on our list, along with many other things, and with only 18 days LEFT until school starts, we need to get busy! So...we randomly decided to take our Dixie Cavern tour TODAY! Dixie Caverns is about 7 miles from our house and the kids have NEVER been. It's so hard to believe that. I have only been there ONE time.

 We arrived around 1:30 pm, purchased our tickets, and off to the cavern tour we went!

 Our "tour guide" told us all we needed to know about the caverns.  

He was also willing to capture a few family photos.  Darren was at work, working hard, so we can do things like this! We are very blessed and I have to continually remind myself what a gift being a stay-at-home-mom really is.

You will see everyone has their iPods in hand. The kids are learning how to be great picture takers (thanks to mom) and they wanted to capture their OWN photos, on their iPods.

It was very interesting being INSIDE of a mountain.

Supposedly, the little formations, in the photo below, for every inch grown, are 100 years old.  We were advised NOT to touch anything in the cavern because we have oily skin and since oil and water do NOT mix, our oily skin can cause the formations to stop growing. The tour guide even said that he is allowed to administer a $500 fine to anyone who chooses not to obey that rule.  

The kids were so well behaved and were also really excited to be in the cavern.

We were told that this cavern was found back in 1920, when two boys and their dog were taking a walk.  The dog fell in the ONLY small opening of the cavern (you can see it in the below photo).  The dog didn't die because it just fell onto a small landing, just underneath the hole.  The boys ran and told the farmer, who owned the property that the cavern was found on.  The farmer spent years investigating the cavern and eventually the cavern become available/open for the public to tour. I am sure there are MORE details to the story, but that's ALL we were told.

Standing under the "wedding bell"!

The tour took about 45 minutes.  It was about 55 degrees inside the cavern.  Slightly chilly, so if you get cold fast, I advise bringing a light weight jacket or cardigan.  The tickets are $14 per adult and $6 for children 6 and older! After the tour, I allowed the kids to get a sweet treat and souvenir in the gift shop! We also visited the antique shop, attached to the gift shop, but we aren't big on antiques, so we zoomed through it fast.  

Jax chose a "fools gold" necklace. Lilah and Ty chose a jar filled with genuine, Brazilian gold flakes.

This is definitely a neat experience.  I think going ONE time is enough, but you do have to go at least once, especially if you live close.