I usually avoid the outdoors as much as possible, because sunlight, bugs, fresh air... That's not my cup of tea. But Matt's family invited us to go to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest with them for hiking and a picnic, and before I could object - Matt said yes.
I was a bundle of pessimism the night before, because the idea of bringing an 18-month-old and a 3 year old into the woods, up a mountain, for a two-mile walk just didn't seem like a good idea. Seriously, who does that?? I begrudgingly packed a healthy lunch for us that was portable, adjusted the baby carrier so it would fit both Kaya and me (it's been a few months since we've used it), and picked out some movable warm clothes for them since I knew it would be chilly when we headed out in the morning.
Honestly though, it was a lot of fun. It got us out of the house for an entire Saturday morning, the kids played and climbed and wore themselves out, and I think the adventure really did us all some good.
We started out with Kaya and Sammy both walking. I'm telling you, there is nothing sillier or
sweeter than watching a newly confident walker climb up steps. (There were quite a few wooden stairs built into the path to help make it an easier trail.) We stopped to look at almost every leaf, puddle, and tree on the way up the path; It was a learning experience for Kaya and she loved repeating all the new words she was learning.
By the time we'd been walking about ten-fifteen minutes, we started falling behind from all of the stopping, so I decided to carry her for a little while. She loved the new view from up high and happily babbled away as we continued up the hill. I started struggling a little bit (I'm one of the most un-athletic people out there) and stumbled over one of the many roots in the ground, so Matt took over carrying her for a bit.
Check that out. A dad in his natural habitat, toting his young while meandering up the mountainside. Kinda hot, right? [You know you're a mom when...?]
I love how she monkeys onto him when he carries her, they've totally got that father-daughter bond thing going on.
I digress. Where was I? Oh, notice how the first two pictures don't include Sammy? Yeah, that's because he decided he was too cool to hang out with Momma and Daddy and ran off to hold his big cousin's hand. We're chopped liver now.
Matt's sister decided to capture some memories and had a couple of "photo shoots" almost every time we came across a big tree (there's a lot of them) or something else neat. Of course, Kaya and I were lagging behind again because she insisted on being a big girl and walking again. Not that I minded, I knew that she was enjoying herself and ultimately wearing herself out for a good nap later.
Sammy was loving the adventure, and kept shouting for us to look at his new discoveries. My favorite was a big fallen tree that he was trying to climb into:
All in all, it was an amazing day. It taught me that just because I have reservations about how something is going to turn out, I should still make an effort. I hope it turned into a day that they'll remember for a long time!
