Based on the angle and who took the picture, apparently Dad was thrown off the bridge for this one:

Here’s the group shot (outside the diner - oh the things you miss when you move to the midwest):

And here’s Lucy at the end of a long weekend:

Lucy was more comfortable just posing for the camera:

Here’s Grace finishing off by preparing for a turn:

Here are our fearless firefighters in their individual hero poses:

After a hard day’s work, nothing says “job well done” quite like striking a pose in front of the camera in your underpants and boots:

And here’s the one we’re calling Red, White and BLucy:

Here are the ladies before their departure:

And here’s Grace showing off her special “opera crown” which she was somehow able to keep on her head throughout the performance:

Here are the ladies waiting outside the visitors center before we descended several hundred feel below earth (pretty much sounds like a bad idea when you have small children, doesn’t it?):

The cave tour started with a long descent to the bottom of the cave to an open area they called “Grand Central Station” - which looked absolutely nothing like Grand Central Station:

If you’re possessed by demons, it tends to show through when you’re down in a cave:

Photographers dream shot #1 - Daughter with closed eyes:

To be topped only by: 2 daughters with closed eyes

But at least for one of the rare family shots we had taken on this trip we were able to look somewhat normal:

Here we are on the oh-so-fake-feeling fossil dig:

After the fossil dig, the kids had a chance to brush sand off of a real (or was it) dinosaur skeleton partially buried underground:

And of course you need the obligatory, “stick your head in a dinosaur’s mouth” display to truly create memories that last a lifetime (even the parents got into it):

The place also featured a walking path so we could pretend we were seeing the dinosaurs as we would have seen them if outdoor zoos existed in prehistoric times (apparently these fearsome creatures would not have dared cross 2 simple pieces of rope), no matter how hungry or carnivorous they were:

Thanks to Dinosaur World, not only do we now no that the creature below is NOT a Triceratops but rather a Chasmosaurus, but we know that it is capable of rather complex emotions (just look at what must be a rather authentic Chasmexpression on its face):

All kidding aside - the T-Rex did have the kids a tad nervous (but apparently not Luce):

To remind the kids that it was all pretend, there was a little petting zoo-style display/playground at the end (it was surprising they didn’t have those gumball machines with fake food to feed the dinosaurs):

And so none of us can deny we were there (and enjoyed it)- here’s the group shot we asked another equally “wowed” group of tourists to take of us:

Anyway, the girls knew that this Kentucky icon was part of their heritage so to speak - and really got into it. In fact all of the kids really got into the actual horse race - which means that for our next vacation, we may be able to simply drive to the local OTB. Here they are in the winner’s circle:

And here are the girls in front of a stuffed version of SuperSaver - the horse that won the 2010 Kentucky Derby:

The best part for the kids was actually seeing the race (and watching Lara win a whopping $3 on one of them):

It was also fun watching the moms trying to work through some mint juleps:

Of course - sometimes watching a horse race, just isn’t as much fun as riding a mechanical horse in front of a video screen:

And this visit simply wouldn’t have enabled us to check the “Americana” square if there wasn’t some guy walking around as a giant stuffed horse mascot (we also got to watch a “circus” of kids who barely knew how to sommersault):

So to start - here’s a shot of “The Truckster” 

First stop: Louisville, Kentucky, home of the “hot brown” (an openfaced sandwich), Churchill Downs, the Louisville “Bats” AAA baseball team (one would think “Sluggers” would have been a better name than bats) and the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum (home of the world’s largest bat):

While there have been many fearsome batting orders on many major league teams over the years, we think this one might top the 1927 Yankees’ Murderers’ Row in making pitchers a little nervous (try pitching to these strike zones!):

Inside the factory, the kids had many chances to swing a bat or two (to include Mickey Mantle’s bat), which might explain how they wound up not killing each other with their wooden bats that they were given at the end of the tour: