Four Mile Hike

Today's weather was gorgeous and our calendar was open. It was a bit too nippy for swimming, but Hannah and I were both in the mood for hiking. She suggested a familiar stomping ground, but I was ready for a bigger adventure, so I looked up a state park about a half-hour away, packed some sandwiches, and herded everyone into the van for some sunshine and exercise.

Elijah was looking forward to the hike, but found the trip a little too monotonous, I guess, since half-way through the drive he whined, "Mommy, there's something wrong with my eyes. I want to keep them open, but they keep trying to close."

He did manage to keep them open, and soon we arrived, unloaded, and were off.

Shortly into our journey I almost stepped on a snake, which we later identified as a harmless Northern Water Snake. It made my heart stop, but the kids loved it.

We also encountered several orb web spiders, daddy-long-legs, water striders, and lots of other creepy-crawly wonders.

 It was thirsty work.

Toby found the biggest acorn cap I've ever seen in my life (somewhere in those woods was one lucky squirrel),

and Elijah carried a stick with him throughout the entire four-mile hike, which he called his gun, of course.

We picnicked at the top of a hill, half-way through our hike, at an elevation of 885 ft above sea level. When Toby heard this, his eyes grew big, "Whoa!" he said, "We're higher than the ocean!" So, to help Toby understand elevation a little better, we discussed how high other places on earth were above sea level while we ate. This led to a riveting conversation about the pros and cons of attempting to climb Mt. Everest.

After lunch, we found a vine hanging in the trail and had to play Tarzan for a bit.

Mostly, though, we just walked. A lot. And we really enjoyed it.

OK, we ran a little bit too. 

We even discovered our family tree.

By the end of those four miles, I was dragging…like dragging Elijah by the hand while he whined that he was tired. But all the kids soon found renewed energy when the trail ended here:

In the end, even I found my child-like spirit, and Naomi found her photography skills.

Hannah couldn't wait to tell Dad all about our day when we got home. "Dad! We had the BEST day EVER!" she announced. I joked to her that she's had a few of those before. "Well yeah," she agreed, "but this one broke the record."

Here's to a record-breaking day of fun, learning, and exercise. We might just have to go again.