Dad, I believe you now.
Now, it is my turn to scare the bologna outta these kids and put into them a healthy fear of THE WOODS. (cue scary music)
The boys have been begging Joel to take them on a hike. Their "boys only hike" morphed into a "family hike" when Joel hollered up the stairs, "Who wants to go for a hike?" The two boys dropped their playstation remotes and were in front of Joel in a flash. Both of them wearing their trusty, bright orange hunter's caps. Then, a little girl's voice yelled downstairs, "I wanna come!" "ME TOO!" chimed in another girly voice. And then the last of the girls..."WAIT FOR ME, DADDY! I'm coming!!!"
Annie was more than thrilled that it wasn't a "boys only" activity.
She held Daddy's hand the entire walk.
It was cold. It was cloudy. It was slightly rainy, but that didn't stop us.
47 seconds into the walk, Mikey was suffering from hypothermia. Matt heroically gave him his coat. The family pushed on...through the rain, through the cold. We persevered.
We stopped to inspect the mushrooms growing down the side of the tree.
Hm. Interesting. Could we survive on these out here in the wilderness?
Our family trudged up the long, winding, rocky trail, dodging deer droppings. The only thing you could hear was heavy breathers and the crunching of leaves under our tiresome legs. (I could have sworn I heard a den of bears discussing whether we had mace or not.)
Finally, through the trees, we could see the meadow, and could it be!? Yes, yes, it was!..... HOME! off in the distance!
I felt a sense of accomplishment, a sense of "I did it-ness" a sense of, "we'd better have cream because I really want a cup of coffee."
I looked at my crew of mountain climbers. "WE DID IT, KIDS! WE DID IT! We hiked 147 feet, with no food, no water...even lack of adequate clothing."
We are the mountain folk. Fear us.
11 comments:
That was such a fun walk! I was shocked that Annie never needed to be carried through the whole trip, I mean my legs were killing me!
Toughen up, girl!
Thanks a lot! It was a long walk.
That looks like so much fun. I love the picture of the kids walking up the hill to the house. Isn't it fun to have older kids so you can just go do stuff like that? :)
Really really sweet! Once again, I'm enjoying your sense of humor.
Happy Easter, friend!
You crack me up. So glad you got in on some hiking pictures. lol! :) Looks like lots of fun, if we went hiking in our backyard, we'd just end up in the neighbors backyard, not so much fun.
I was so busy balancing my camera and mace that I just couldn't get in on any pictures. :o)
Uh! Beck....
what about the bear on the deck? He was licking his chops when he eyed you as I recall...
oh, never mind-that was "Champ"
Makes me homesick for all of you.
LYGBT
And just what was your plan if you HAD encountered a bear? Might I suggest my approach? A few years ago, while Mom and I were on a hike, Dad hid in the bushes and made the absolute most authentic bear sound either one of us had ever heard in our lives. We froze. Mom took one petrified look at me. I returned a horrified look to her. She grabbed my arm. And how did I respond to that you may ask? I shook her off of me so fast and made a beeline for the house like my life depended on it! Didn't give her a second thought!! Awww, I swear it was a gut reaction. I would NEVER want my Mom to be gobbled up by a bear. Sorry Mom! ;)
and to make matters worse, mom was hobbling along with a cane because she had just come out of knee surgery!!!!! Ya outta be ashamed of yourself, Kris!
LOL to Krissy! The number one rule when hiking in bear territory is not to make sure you can outrun the bear, but that you bring another person that you can outrun. :)
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