Maquoketa Caves for Father's Day. . .

Whenever a special event rolls around (Father's Day, birthday, anniversary), I always try to think of some way to celebrate that doesn't require $$. It's not that I'm really all that frugal; it's because my husband is and I know it really blesses him when we do something fun without having spent a lot of money. Sometimes I score. Other times, not so much. Father's Day was one of those times when I rocked:)

I mean, how awesome is sidewalk chalk that's big enough for all passersby to see??

OK, really, my awesome gift was a surprise for Kevin. We had talked about visiting the Maquoketa Caves, but it wasn't really on his radar. I told him to plan to go somewhere that Saturday morning and as we headed west on I-80, he had no idea where we were going! Well, 45 minutes north of here is the town on Maquoketa. A few miles west of the town are these amazing caves! I wasn't quite sure how amazing they'd be, so I only planned to be there for an hour or so. Turns out we could have spent an entire day there!! Emma was a little scared when we walked through our first cave, but after that, she acted like she wanted to live there!!

Kevin and Adri up ahead. . .

Brrr!! It was chilly down there!

Damp and musty, but seriously, very awesome!

These are the steps leading down to the cave that goes under the main road.

I think if we ever go without the girls, we'll be spelunking and climbing in and out of the caves! Kevin couldn't resist this one!

Our crew. . .

Love this. . .

And this. . . (that's Adri hanging off Kevin's back. . . not a growth)

Each of the caves had a name. Our favorite was Dancehall Cave. It was huge! Emma thought that maybe people used to dance in Dancehall Cave while the animals sat around the edge and watched.

There were all sorts of little caves and passages for Emma to go through. She was thoroughly enjoying herself!!

Just her size. . .

Waiting for the other two to return. . .

By far, this was one of the best gifts we've given Kevin for Father's Day!! He loved it and we all had a blast together. We went into the little town and had lunch at Flapjack's and then headed home. We're all looking forward to the next trip!!