•8:35 PM
Our homeschool group recently went on a field trip to Natural Bridge Caverns. Taylor has never been and I hadn't since you was about her age. So, we were excited to go. To learn more about it, here's their website:
This is a wet cave so you see a lot of the water/ setiment formations such as the basic stelagmite and stelagtite.
The side formations on the ceiling there are called cave drapery. And, you can see some stelagmites down below. Remember, stelagmites might reach the ceiling some day. :-)
Big stelagmites here and several connecting to the ceiling... called columns. This area was lovingly names Sherwood Forest.
Daniel is standing in front of the "Fairy Castles".
This area doesn't look so friendly. This is Pergatory Creek... halfway between the walkway and the abyss.
I don't remember the name of this room, but it's the largest one in the whole cave. It's impossible to photograph the expanse of this room. It's really huge.
This little pond is called Emerald Lake. Can you see why?
This is the "Valley of the Fallen Lords".
And then... there was a steep walkway to get out. And we were hustling because there was a group behind us. Daniel wimpered getting up that hill and I think I did too. I had to take an Advil just to get to sleep that night because my legs were so soar. Time to get back in shape!
There's the land bridge over the cave below. The place we were standing here was a sink hole.
This is a wet cave so you see a lot of the water/ setiment formations such as the basic stelagmite and stelagtite.
The side formations on the ceiling there are called cave drapery. And, you can see some stelagmites down below. Remember, stelagmites might reach the ceiling some day. :-)
Big stelagmites here and several connecting to the ceiling... called columns. This area was lovingly names Sherwood Forest.
Daniel is standing in front of the "Fairy Castles".
This area doesn't look so friendly. This is Pergatory Creek... halfway between the walkway and the abyss.
I don't remember the name of this room, but it's the largest one in the whole cave. It's impossible to photograph the expanse of this room. It's really huge.
This little pond is called Emerald Lake. Can you see why?
This is the "Valley of the Fallen Lords". And then... there was a steep walkway to get out. And we were hustling because there was a group behind us. Daniel wimpered getting up that hill and I think I did too. I had to take an Advil just to get to sleep that night because my legs were so soar. Time to get back in shape!Anyway, this was a very interesting trip. I'm encourage to study geology with the kids in the next couple of years. We have some great resources local to San Antonio!
Ammonites were named after an Egyptian god named Amun, but are said to have been extinct for 65 million years. The god had a rams horn behind each ear, which look similar to an ammonite. Hmmm... I wonder if Egyptians named them because they found live ammonites or fossilized ones. 
Picture perfect opportunities exist all over the zoo. This is one of the many statues located near the snake house.
I see this one around here a lot. It's one of my favorites! Flowers are another one of God's fingerprints that he leaves on this world. To observe the complexity, color, variety and detail of flowers is just amazing. It an expression of His amazing complexity and grace on us. What a wonderful thing they are!
Daniel (in the middle) was paying close attention to something our cave guide was talking about. He likely had a flashlight on something because Daniel wanted to do some spelunking. He enjoyed using the walking rails to walk on the opposite side of the steps... on the dangerous rocks. 
This cave was created by an earthquake on the Balcones Fault Line. From the observation tower, you can see where this fault line separates the Texas Hill Country and the Gulf Coastal Plains. It's interesting to see the dramatic change. You can honestly see the hills on one side of the fault line and the plains on the other. Very cool.
These are some interesting formations in the ceiling of the cave. Most of them are fossils from this the time when this area was under the ocean. Your guide will tell you that it was billions of years ago, but we believe maybe only thousands. Most of us are aware that Texas was under water very recently... most scientists agree with this.
Some more geological formations.. this, I believe, is call rock coral.
And finally, this is the "Anti-Gravity House". The whole house sits at an angle. It's a huge optical illusion that puzzles your brain. It seems like it would be easy to stand up in this thing, but your brains tells you that you should be leaning at the same angle... causing you to fall on your bottom! The trick to this ball thing is that the track is still at a downward angle, but not as much as the house. It seems like the track is going up. When you place a pool ball on this track, it appears to go up. They have the same display with water. It's fun and puzzling!
