Michael's 9th birthday part 1

Well, my boy is turning Nine this week! On Wednesday. I wanted to offer him a few options for his birthday instead of just throwing at him some generic birthday party. He was offered Chucke Cheese (eww...I so crossed my fingers that he didn't want that..lol) , a birthday party at home with the neighbor kids, going to the "Game Zone" in Tucson, or Kartchner Caverns Arizona State Park and Discovery Zone. YAY he chose the Caverns!!! What a smart boy! I mean..how often does an almost 9 year old boy turn down candy and arcade games for a dark wet science-ish field trip into a cave??? lol..Not often enough in my opinion but man am I proud. I had one of those Proud Momma moments, like...gee..I MIGHT actually be doing SOMETHING right here..lol. Since it takes a few hours to do we had to do it this weekend before his actual birthday but he doesn't mind since Wednesday we will also be having a small family party and so on. He was even kind enough to invite Cody to come along. Matthew was too young, no one under 7 is allowed in, there are too many jutting rocks, slippery walkways, and darkness galore that can be frightening, not to mention there is a STRICT no touching ANYTHING policy ( can you imagine a 3 year old in the dark NOT reaching out to touch things...lol ..no!) and MAN I mean NOTHING they have 3 rangers per each guided tour of 20 people. One in front, one in the middle and one at the end. I don't blame them though, it's AMAZING and because it's a "live wet-cave" the grease and bacteria just on your finger tip could change the way that cave grows for 500 years! Jon had the boys this weekend so I went to pick up Michael and Cody this morning around 9 and headed towards the caverns' about a 30 minute drive. The boys oooooooooooooooo'd and Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! the entire time. You take trams up the side of a hill to one of 2 enterances and it looks like you are entering Fort Knox! LOL. HUGE metal doors, walking down long dark EXTREMELY humid hall ways carved from limestone, and wait in a hall, then the door is shut behind you, you wait until the humidity is back to normal and proceed through ANOTHER door...wait again....ANOTHER door,...and then darkness........................
Then lights slowly start coming up, showing some of the most amazing things I've seen. I am so glad Michael wanted to go!! It was a great experience. We saw all sorts of fantastic things, and the rooms themselves were ENORMOUS, very awe inspiring. There is a huge formation they named Kubla Khan, it's 5 stories tall. In the slide show you can see a man in the bottom near Kubla Khan, he's so tiny! It was so cool, they had a light and music show at the end and it was so cool! I absolutely loved it, I wish it weren't so costly or I would go back every week! I am really hoping to save up another $60 and take them back to see what they call "The Big Room", it's only open 6 months of the year because it can flood with water and make a giant under ground lake inside, it's also more expensive. I couldn't afford to do both tours in one day, so they are really excited about possibly getting to go back again! I would suggest to anyone who lives in the area to really take the opportunity to come see them. It's well worth it. It's 1 of the top 10 caverns for color, and the only one of those top ten that is open to the public. I am SO excited that my son chose knowledge instead of arcade games..!! YAY!!!! seeing his face was so worth it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!