Day in pictures

So what does one do, when hiking with a couple of boys alone on a Sunday morning? Think about how much nicer it would have been if Stefan could have been there? It was his event, after all, as part of his Volkssporting club. But unfortunately the event had been planned for months and conflicted with his surgery date. (and there was no way we were delaying the surgery!) So we--the boys and I--decided to go and do the event since Stefan wouldn't be able to be there. And I did what I always do on outings with the boys--take pictures.



It the weather hadn't been so nice, I might have planned the "I have a cold" card, or the "Jameson has an ear infection" card, or any other card I could have found. But it was beautiful out, and I needed to get the boys out in the fresh air, so away we went.



This picture is of our first snack break. On our 3 mile hike/bike (bringing along Alex's bike was the smartest thing I did all day) we stopped approximately every 20 feet. Yes, that's right. Every. Twenty. Feet. There were mittens to be taken on or off... snacks to be asked for... leg cramps to complain about to Mama... mud to be examined... clearly, one of the challenges of the day was remembering---after months of time shut in the house---just how one must change their mindset in order to hike with children.



But, I managed to delay the first snack stop until about a half-mile in. Here's a picture of Jameson that I quickly snapped. I love the food around his mouth--he never eats neatly--and his delightfully chubby cheeks, caught mid-chew. I also love his hair curling about his silly hat. (what good are toddlers if you can't put them in silly hats?)

There were moments on this hike where, honestly, I regretted going. It was one long loop and about a mile of it was much chillier than the rest. During that time, we kept looking for an opportunity to stop and throw rocks into the river. Unfortunately it stayed just out of our reach--we weren't dressed to tromp through mud and snow--until we reached a bridge. Then we could easily drop sticks over the edge and watch them drift away. Which, as anyone knows, is nearly as good as throwing rocks. This was the best moment of the whole hike. Here's Jameson, clutching a stick retrieved from the trail:

And here are the boys on the bridge, sharing some crackers. Alex and I both packed snacks for the trip. And although my attempts at healthiness--fruit leather and the like--were somewhat appreciated, these Ritz crackers were VERY popular. Perhaps it was that Alex had packed them himself, or that he was responsible for handing them out. But, regardless, Ritz crackers ruled the day.

In any event, we survived and even enjoyed some of it. We got plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and exercise. But even better, the boys got exposure to activities that their parents thrive on--hiking and biking. We're doing our best to instill a love of active activities outside whenever possible. It's just a little harder to get over that inertia to get out there during the winter. Throw in a back surgery, a couple of infected ears and a bad cough and there's just that much more inertia to overcome. But we did it, frequent stops and all. Not bad for a Sunday in February, if I do say so myself.