an inpromptu hike...

 Saturday morning when we woke I made pancakes, the kids all played and my dear hubby was enjoying sleeping in. Shortly after breakfast I went out to my car to get a water bottle that I use daily and I was excited to see that spring had arrived. It was a cool morning but I could tell that the afternoon was going to be simply gorgeous. I ran inside and into my bedroom where my hubby was still blissfully sleeping and quickly woke him up and asked him if we could go hiking. He, knowing how much I love hiking immediately said yes. 

I set off packing a lunch, a small first aid kit, (our last little adventure landed us in patient first), getting the kids ready and asking around to see if anyone wanted to join us. Once everything was in order we set off to pick up a sweet friend who we love and headed to Gun Powder Falls State park. The day was already gorgeous and I couldn't wait to get there. A small hiccup on my part made our drive about 20 minutes longer than it should have been but once we got started it was just wonderful.

Within minutes of setting foot on the trail the kids (especially Peanut) were skipping and running and loving life. Each of them had chosen a walking stick and were off to explore. They were climbing on fallen tree trunks, and several rock formations. They even found a snake in one of the crevices of one of the rocks. 

Not sure if you can see the snake but he is the black and yellow stripe in the very middle of the picture.

 
 About a mile into the hike we stopped at a stream crossing, ate lunch, climbed on rocks and got our feet wet. The kids didn't wear any shoes most of the day and loved climbing around barefoot. Our sweet friend spent most of the day helping our little Bean climb all over the place and I was thankful for the extra hands. Watching your 3 year old leap from rock to rock is a bit nerve racking and also quite exciting. I know she was having the time of her life.

 After stopping for lunch we made our way about another 0.2miles down the trail and found a beautiful swimming hole. We played here until it was time to go home. My wonderful hubby gave the kids rock skipping lessons and the kids played and played. They have some scrapes and bruises but that's to be expected. 

My favorite memory of the day happened just before hiking back to the car. Booger was in the swimming hole up to his thighs looking for good skipping stones when he slipped and fell into the swimming hole. The look on his face from the cold water was priceless. He laughed and we laughed. We had to ring out his clothes and I had to even let him borrow one of my shirts on the way back to the car. But he was having such a great time and I was loving every minute as well.

I can't wait until summer when we can travel to this spot and really get to enjoy the swimming hole and maybe even bring a few more friends out with us.
 

On Saturday we forgot about the laundry and the dishes and everything else that 'needed' to be done and spent the whole day just hanging out. We even enjoyed some delicious Cracker Barrel on the way home.  Thank the Lord for beautiful days, a gorgeous creation, wonderful family and great friends.

How did you spend your Saturday?

An Explorer, Jack Frost, and a princess.

The last two days have been beautiful. My kids have been outside for hours and it's hard to pull them in for even a quick lesson. Today though they have a great story line to go with their play.

My son, is Jack Frost, without him there would be no fun. (We have watched Rise of the Guardians at least 5 times since I bought it last week.) He is helping an explorer (Peanut) to rescue the Princess (Beanie) who has been trapped in a tower. I am not sure why the Princess is trapped or why they are building a tipi, (yes I said tipi) but it's quite the adventure and who I am to get in the way of such wonderful imaginations.

Jack Frost trapping the princess

Apparently this princess can't wait for the explorer and is taking things into her own hands

My mother made this cape years and years ago, and without it I am positive that our adventures wouldn't be quite as epic.