Saurday afternoon

After a busy Saturday morning consisting of Mike coaching the young men's basketball team at church, having to put in a couple of hours for work, the kids and I checking out a new bouncy place in the city next to us, and myself attending a good friend's baby shower, mid afternoon found us all home with nothing on the schedule and in the backyard enjoying some beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL weather.

Not wishing to spend one minute of the rest of the afternoon indoors and having no desire to engage in our ordinary Saturdayish activities such as grocery shopping, going to Lowes/Home Depot, or going to our neighborhood park (I just wanted to do something different) I started spouting off ideas of everywhere within a 30 miles radius of our house that we could could enjoy the spring like sunshine and each other's company. After a few minutes, Mike and I decided to take the kids up to a waterfall about 20 miles from our house that has a family friendly trail leading down to it.

Incredibly, within 15 minutes we were all ready to go. As much as we are anticipating the upcoming birth of our little one, we are enjoying this brief stage where neither of our children naps or needs diapers (Kiwi's early nap refusal which can be frustrating on a normal day is actually very nice on a day like Saturday). Sure I had to pack a backpack with snacks, a sippy cup, a water bottle, and extra clothes and Dora underwear just in case, but there were no diapers or wipes anywhere to be found.

We enjoyed a nice drive up there with kids eagerly anticipating going on a hike (after being told that we were not going to DOWN the waterfall) and asking about the animals that are in the mountains in our area.

When we got there, we were lucky to find a parking spot. Apparently, nobody wanted to be indoors. The observation area, park area, and trail was packed. Despite having to squeeze past people in some of the more narrow parts and our excited children cutting other hikers off a couple of times, we enjoyed a marvelous early spring Saturday.

Kiwi was quite the trooper. She hiked the majority of the way down where she started to get a little tired and cranky. After a snack and a rest, she was rejuvenated enough to make it up the first big hill and then happily sat on Daddy's shoulders for the rest of the trip (Mike got a little extra workout adding 30 plus pounds to his trip up.

Stopping for a snack. The first two are what Kiwi really felt like at this point, the third was after I said, "Smile and I will give you your snack."

Little Man and his walking stick. He was such a little hiker. He didn't complain once (which was very refreshing because 4 1/2 has been a bit of a whiny stage). While Mike sat with Kiwi, Little Man and I ventured down onto some of the big rocks by the water that were a little too tricky and slippery for two year old feet. He had a blast and claimed to be a rock climber. We threw rocks into the water and climbed atop an enormous rock were we stood triumphantly for a moment and then I nervously nudged us back down it.

Hiking back up the hill, we were partners. He kept saying,

"Come on partner. We can do it." He even gave me a rock and said, "Here partner, here's a lucky chum for you." Pretty sure he meant charm.

The only time he got close to upset was when we could no longer see Mike and Kiwi on the trail. He wasn't upset because we couldn't see them, but because he can be very competitive and didn't want them ahead of us. To this I responded, "It doesn't matter who is first, it just matters that we finish."

He got the message...sorta. His mantra then changed to, "Come on partner, we can do it. It doesn't matter who gets to the top first, it just matters who gets to the car first." Oh, well. It kept him happy and I had a fun time with my little partner.

This picture is my attempt to do a better job documenting the parents of the two beautiful children I'm constantly snapping photos of. Since Little Man arrived almost five years ago I have taken more pictures then I ever have in my entire life. Mike is present in some of these pics. with the kids since I'm usually behind the camera. Consequently, I am in only a handful of pictures. Combine that with the fact that I rarely like a photo of myself and I fear I may be unaccounted for in my family picture history. So, I have decided that to try and remedy that a little by taking a posting pics. of myself even if they aren't my favorite.

So there we go, proof that we were also on the hike. This picture was taken by Little Man. His new found camera skills should help in this goal.

On the way home, I suggested stopping by Papa Murphy's and picking up a take and bake pizza. It was already past five and we had two exhausted kids in the back. And wouldn't you know that there was a Papa Murphy's coupon in the back pack.

What are the chances of that? A coupon for the very pizza I had been craving appearing in a back pack I had packed knowing we would probably be driving home around dinner time?

We enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza (Papa Murphy's of course) and salad with p.j. clad kids who went to bed afterwards.

It was a good Saturday.