We took 5 of our 6 children and did a fast paced vacation to the Ark and the Creation Museum. We live in Lancaster Pa area so it was a long drive and 72 hours later we were back home!

We originally were only going to take just our 12, 10, and 6 year old. But because of Covid-19 it changed all the schedules and so rather then leaving the two 4 year olds and our 2 year old home with multiple babysitters, it was just easier to change the plans, shake it all upside down and this is how we landed. We left our 2 year old, who HATES driving for more than two hours, with his favorite cousin and her family.

We left 9am on Wednesday. We stopped for lunch at 11:20am, perfect for beating the lunch rush. Which was good because all the restaurants at the truck stop were shut down (due to Covid) except the Burger King. Which, I might add, only had two employees working. We got there with 3 people in front of us. 20 minutes later were got our food and the line was about 6 people long and getting longer. I felt sorry for the poor ladies trying to man the one and only restaurant by themselves, especially as lunch hour was coming upon them.

Supper went better. Again we hit supper at 4:30pm and had 2 options and both were fully staffed. We pack grocery bags for trash, baby wipes, paper towels, and water bottles. This all helps with eating in the van in order to save time.

We also stored a little potty training potty in the van. Which was a good move for the young bladders. Every time you have to stop for a bathroom break you loose 15 minutes of travel time.

Unfortunately we hit traffic around Cincinnati. Due to moving from four lanes down to two did a number on the flow of traffic. But we are blessed to have a dvd play in our big Nissan NV passenger van , which helped everyone from having melt downs as we hit hour number 9 and then hour 10 of riding buckled up in a van.

As a side note, anyone who is looking for a review of this 12 passenger van , we have been very happy with it. My husband commented how nicely it pulled our pop-up camper. The seats can be removed for more space and storage. The down side is that there are no arm rests on the end of the row. Which for us has not been a problem, but others have minded it.

Back to vacation, we stayed at Big Bone Lick State Park. We stumbled upon this camp in desperation. Everything else we looked at was either too expensive (motel and Airbnb- lodging 7 people gets pricey) or at other camp grounds the bath houses were still closed, due to Covid.

As we combed over a map of the areas near the Creation Museum we eventually found Big Bone Lick State Park. And guys, it was so perfect! A 30 minute drive from the Creation Museum and 30 minute drive from the Ark. And the price, at $25 a night, was a beautiful surprise! While camping we discovered at least 5 of our fellow campers were also there because they were visiting the museum and the ark.

The state park itself was nice. They had some fun little hiking trails. Along with a buffalo herd. The park is called Big Bone Lick State Park because there is a natural salt spring and years ago it would draw the animals into it. Also, historically, people would come in horse drawn carriage to be in the salt spring due to health reasons. They have a whole trail dedicated to explaining the history behind the park. It was fun.

Ok to the main event, the museums. How did it go with young kids?

We got up, ate breakfast, and hit the road around 9am. After stopping at Starbucks, inside Krogers, for much needed coffee we were off again. We got to the museum and started our day by 10am.

We went through the museum first. The kids did great. They enjoyed looking at all the displays. They weren’t interested in all the written information so we went through it faster then if they had not been along, but overall I was impressed with how interested they were in the displays.

We then went out, got our packed lunches (no coolers allowed but lunch bags are allowed) and sat at the pavilion to eat. It was a VERY hot day. The pavillion was nice and cool and all sorts of birds gave us entertainment.

After lunch we played at the play ground and walked through the petting zoo, before going back into the museum for ice cream.

After ice cream we went into the planetarium for the 2:00 show. It was amazing! To realize how small we are compared to the known universe and yet God cares so much about us…it blows my mind. He is such a good God. The 4 year olds did really well, despite the fact that they didn’t understand any of it.

After the show, we split ways. Joel took our 6 year old along with the two 4 year olds outside to the walking paths, playground and petting zoo. I stayed in the museum and did another walk through of all the displays with our 12 and 10 year old. We ended up spending 20 minutes (and too much money) in the gift shop.

We walked out of the gift shop at 4pm and met up with the rest of the family. After a bathroom and water break, I then took the two four year olds back outside. Joel and the three older boys stayed inside for a 4D video. It had some strobe lights along with some other special effects that made me uncertain of how it would affect the younger ones. So rather then risk it, I took them back outside. They didn’t realize they were missing a movie and were delighted with more time playing on the playground.

We ended up sitting oppoiste the museum, across the lake to watch for Joel and the boys to come out. Once we saw them, we left to meet them at the front gate. We ended up leaving around 5:30pm.

It was a long day but good day. We picked up pizza on the way back to the campsite. We ate at the picnic area at the state park, attempted to play frisbee and then went for a small hike before going back to the camper for the night. It was hard to go to bed early due to it staying light until 9:15 pm.

The next morning we should have stayed at camp to recover and make sure kids got naps. But instead they all woke up earlier then they should have and didn’t sleep nearly as long as they could have. It should have been a warning for how the day was going to go.

We left by 8am, stopped for coffee and arrived to the Ark Encounter a little before 9am. We had packed lunches but realized it wasn’t ideal. We boarded coach buses that drove us up and back a winding road to the actual Ark. It was a little ways to drive and we would have to come back out for our lunches. We decided to skip going back for lunch.

When we got to the Ark, it was huge! But first we were unloaded at a welcome center type of building called the Answers Center. It had a large auditorium which had different videos and speakers all day long. You could stay there all day because something new was always next.

From the welcome center we then walked the path to the ark. It has one entrance and if you want to go through it again you walk back around to the entrance.

The ark itself is impressive. To see with your own eyes the size that it actually was… so awesome!

The younger kids did not do so great one day two. Was it because they were tired or because the Creation Museum did a better job of keeping their attention? I know not. What I do know is they begged to go to the playground when we were on the 2nd level of the ark, there are 3 levels. They were not interested in all the amazing fact and diagrams and animals in the cages.

One thing to note, there are no live animals in the ark. Not sure why I thought there would be. There is a small zoo along with a petting zoo. Both are located outside, behind the ark.

The playground at the ark matched it, huge and awesome! The kids loved it.

We went through all three levels of the Ark way too fast. Then walked through the zoo. Got to go in with the kangaroos, which was fun. Walked through the petting zoo and then ended up at Emzara’s Kitchen for lunch around 11:30am. It was a fun place to eat because of all the mounted animals.

Once again we did some divide and conquer. Ken Ham was speaking in person at 12 pm in the Answers Center. Joel wanted to hear him speak, I agreed that he should take the opportunity and go listen. So I took the kids to the playground and he went to the talk. About 30 minutes later, we were hot and tired so we all headed over to the Answers Center. We easily found Joel and joined him for the remainder of Ken’s talk. It was SO good. He discussed how we are all one race and that Darwin’s theory of evolution is full of racism. We ended up buying his book “One Blood for kids”. It’s been an excellent read.

After the presentation was over we all trekked back out into the heat and hit up the playground as well as walked through the zoo once more. Then we headed over to the outdoor theater to watch the 2:00 animal show about reptiles, which we all enjoyed.

Once the animal show was over we walked all the way back to the Answers Center and relaxed in the beautiful cool air conditioned room, listening to a live gospel concert. Once that finished, Buddy Davis and Ken Ham came out to do a children’s presentation about creation and dinosaurs at 3:30 pm. It was fantastic. Unfortunately, our younger three were at their limit for the day. One fell asleep on my lap while the other two did acrobatics in the aisle. This lead to them taking turns being escorted to the back of the room by their father in order to help them refocus and calm down. But eventually it was time to just leave. All things considering, we were glad we got to hear as much of the show as we did.

After leaving the show we once more divided up. I took the 2 youngest to play on the playground and Joel had his turn of browsing the gift shop with the three older children.

At the park I met a mom who also was doing the divide and conquer method. As we chatted I learned that her family was also staying at Big Bone Lick state park and she too was a previous foster mom to a total of 27 children! I love when God brings people into our lives, complete strangers, and yet they can encourage us.

After a trip to the gift, we deemed it time to go. The younger children were exhausted after two busy days, not enough sleep, and being out in the heat. We boarded the coach and ended up back at our van around 5 pm.

We then headed back to our campsite, ate a quick supper of leftover pizza and packed up. We had originally planned to stay at the site one more night, but we all missed Michael too much!! The children all voted to skip the campfire and drive through the night. We were back on the road by 6:30 pm and headed home!

We got home at 3:30 am and were reunited with our “baby” by mid-morning. It was a fun and worthwhile vacation but it was also SO good to all be home together again!

Things we learned:

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