With Brandon working nights, we've been making an effort to get out of the house during the day, so that he can sleep. Yesterday we drove to Cross Timbers State Park in southeast Kansas for a morning of hiking and a picnic lunch. The weather was beautiful, and the kids had a blast.
From the looks of it, they had some good color on the trees, but it probably peaked a few weeks ago (we're still pretty green in Wichita, but things are just starting to turn). Many of the trees were pretty bare. Jonah carried this stick/branch for a good part of the hike - until he tripped on a rock and face planted. In his distress, the stick got left behind. This caused more distress later when he realized it was missing.
I explained to Jonah that the trail was marked with blue patches on trees along the trail. He very diligently looked for the blue paint, and got excited every time he spotted one.
The hike started out really well! Cora was so excited, she was bouncing up and down in the ergo and kept twisting around to watch Jonah run around and leaning her head waaaaaay back to look up at the leaves. She was all giggles and squeals. Jonah loved looking for the markings on the trees telling us which way to go, picking up sticks and leaves, and throwing rocks. The weather was wonderful, the scenery was quiet and beautiful - I was feeling pretty "super Mom" out in the woods, on a hike with my two kids!
Pre-hike - happy campers
From the looks of it, they had some good color on the trees, but it probably peaked a few weeks ago (we're still pretty green in Wichita, but things are just starting to turn). Many of the trees were pretty bare. Jonah carried this stick/branch for a good part of the hike - until he tripped on a rock and face planted. In his distress, the stick got left behind. This caused more distress later when he realized it was missing.
At the trail head!
I explained to Jonah that the trail was marked with blue patches on trees along the trail. He very diligently looked for the blue paint, and got excited every time he spotted one.
The hike started out really well! Cora was so excited, she was bouncing up and down in the ergo and kept twisting around to watch Jonah run around and leaning her head waaaaaay back to look up at the leaves. She was all giggles and squeals. Jonah loved looking for the markings on the trees telling us which way to go, picking up sticks and leaves, and throwing rocks. The weather was wonderful, the scenery was quiet and beautiful - I was feeling pretty "super Mom" out in the woods, on a hike with my two kids!
But after about 30 minutes of running and climbing on rocks (and more than a few tumbles), Jonah's enthusiasm started to wane and he began to lag behind, and Cora started to get antsy in the carrier. And I started freaking out a little bit. I realized I had no idea whether this trail looped back around to where we started, or whether we'd end up somewhere else entirely. I didn't know how far we had come or how much further the trail went. I knew that I would NOT be able to carry Jonah AND Cora if he decided to stop walking. We had not seen a single person in the park all morning, let alone on the trail. What was I thinking taking two kids out in the woods by myself?? I could feel my heart racing a bit, and I started to panic. I was trying to decide whether to turn back and retrace our steps or keep going....when the trail plopped us out onto the road. And I recognized where we were! It was definitely not near where we started (aka - where we had left the van!). So we still had a bit of a hike in front of us. But my panic subsided, and we pressed on.
And a short while later when Jonah decided he was done,
I discovered that I can, in fact, carry both of my children.
And we also discovered that there IS water in Kansas! Daddy will be so excited :)
Both kids slept the whole way home.
Brandon got seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.
I'd say our Wednesday was a success!
1 comment:
You ARE super mom. Yowza! Cute pics!
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