Auntie Meagan Comes to Visit

                                       

Since moving to Kentucky five years ago, we have had a few visitors. My parents, Matt's mom, Heather, Garrett, Daniel, and Rivers...now we have added to that illustrious list of amazing visitors with Matt's sister, Meagan. Matt hasn't seen her since we moved to Kentucky, and his delight and enjoyment upon getting to spend time with her were palpable. 

Our first outing was to the KFC museum in Corbin, KY. This fun restaurant/museum includes a recreation of what the original kitchen looked like, historical information about the original restaurant and hotel, and a lot of KFC memorabilia (toys, clothes, Star Wars items, every bucket the chicken has ever come in, and more). 

It also includes several mildly disturbing statues of the Colonel...which we naturally took pictures with. Miles was all about making friends. 

Meagan appeared to have a much closer, if even more disturbing, relationship with the Colonel. 

Sad, but Ellie's attempt to attack the Colonel honestly seemed like the most normal reaction to me. 

Naturally, you can't go to a KFC without ordering some of their chicken. I was once more taken by surprise by the sheer amount of food that three boys can eat. I won't bore you by recounting the large quantities they consumed, but rest assured they did not go hungry. 

Here is Miles examining the recreated original kitchen of the Colonel. 

Aunt Meagan is providing the "Uncle Ian" salute to the KFC sign. 

Aunt Meagan and Ellie hanging out in the Colonel's kitchen. 

After visiting the KFC museum, we headed over to one of the classic southern KY sites, the Cumberland Falls, a magnificent waterfall where, in the light of the full moon, it is possible to see a moonbow. 

At one point, some dogs came by, and Miles thought that the waterfall spray was the dogs shaking water on him. Ellie, of course, made friends with the dog owner and got to pet them. 

Matt and Meagan kept re-enacting parts of Last of the Mohicans and singing the theme song. Although some of the kids wanted to do some hiking, Liam was dead set against it. Miles sold his soul (or at least an agreement of hard labor) in order to get a Cumberland Falls walking stick, Ian wandered off to hike by himself, and I found chocolate-dipped potato chips (and yes, they were good, thanks for asking).  

When my mom came out to visit, she bought Matt a birthday present, some very sturdy planters that include a bench that they support. Matt in a moment of creative brilliance decided to let Ellie complete murals out of stones and shells. Ellie had already done one with a geometrical design and a dragonfly. With Aunt Meagan, they painted river rocks and made murals. Ellie's was an ornate wood duck, and Meagan's was a fox. 

Matt took Ellie, Ian, and Meagan to the Sulphur Well park. This well of sulphur water was once believed to have curative powers (several residents still firmly believe this). It smells of rotten eggs. I have resolutely refused to drink it, but have been assured by others braver than I that it tastes exactly like it smells. 

These stairs are all that remains of a health spa that resided here, utilizing the sulphur well water as a draw for visitors. 

Our final fun activity with Meagan before she flew home was to have a campfire with s'mores and hot dogs. One of Ellie's cats (Donut) followed us up and immediately attacked the hot dogs. Ellie actually broke out my old Girl Scout camping mess kit and cooked a hot dog for donut in its little skillet over the fire. The remaining hot dogs were firmly wrapped out, and we tried to keep a lookout to make sure she didn't sneak up again. After we'd eaten enough s'mores and hot dogs, we told some scary stories. Miles told a creepy one about a kid finding his own grave, but the effect was somewhat marred when Miles, at the last minute, named his character Jimmy Woods (like the kid from The Wizard), which had everyone teasing him. Miles proceeded to exact revenge by sneaking out in the dark and jumping, scaring everyone. When Meag left Saturday, we were all sad to see her go.