Ruffner Mountain and then some

Sunday, Husband was in the mood for an adventure.  The weather was great and so we decided to go hiking at Ruffner Mountain.  I hadn't been in almost 8 years and loved it then, so I was excited.  And the kids love hiking period.  But first we went to the airport.  Son and Husband watched planes for 45 minutes.  And Son would have loved to stay longer.

watching

Southwest planes are his favorite

Son refused to get any closer to this "cave" because he said there was a lion in there.

off on the trail

Thank you, Osh Kosh B'Gosh outlet for your $9 jeans that are long enough for my daughter to wear

Daughter spent a lot of time tripping because she was staring up at the leaves, trees, sky and clouds.  Finally I told her I'd take a picture she could look at later.  

Son found a tree that looked like an airplane "steering wheel"  So he drove the plane.

"This map says we are lost." We weren't but she sure cracked up two ladies that were taking a break on a nearby bench.

 We ended up hiking about 3 miles and the kids did great.  So great that they asked to go to a park before we went home.  ah, to have their energy.

"take my picture while I slide, please."

notice the pants change.  potty training is not complete.  boo.

Wordless Wedneday: Palisades Park - 1 billion memories ago

Palisades Park from Daughter's Point of View

Recently, we took another trip to Palisades Park. seriously, my kids love to hike. I love it.

This time when I was packing Daughter's backpack with oranges, wipes and ice water, I added her camera. She was so excited when she found it. "So, I can taking pictures during the hike? Of whatever I want to?"

yes, yes, indeed.

And, boy, she did. She took about 50 pictures and I parred it down to 10.

The captions in quotes are what she was saying when she snapped the picture.

"This tree is so big and strong. I love it."

"Mommy, this says, 'Our hike starts now.'"

I'm not sure why it looks like I'm asking a question. Maybe because I was wondering if she was actually taking a legitimately good picture. She was.

She took a picture of EVERY one of these on the trail identifying the trees (over 20). I liked this one best because of the lighting.

"This is a tiny pine comb. It's where trees come from."

something like that, exactly.

mushrooms

I love how she picked up the rock to take a picture of it.

(Son in the background)

Son. (sigh. what a cutie)

Husband starting eating these wild "blackberries" Well, not these. He ate ripe ones. He offered me some but I told him if he didn't die, I'd have some on our next hike. (I'm glad he didn't die)

a great sunset.

Palisades Park with the new backpack

About a month ago, I did something I have never done before. But it turned out so well, I look forward to more of it soon.

(Disclaimer:I realize no one loves to look at pictures of my kids as much as Husband and I do, so while this is another Palisades Park post, it's different from the last one I posted. But in my defense, if I spent all my time with cats, I'm sure I'd talk about them and take a lot of pictures of them too. Then you could call me Crazy Cat Christy)

Anyway, since we started hiking, Daughter has been talking about wanting/needing a back pack for hiking. (We always carry one with a diaper for Son, lots of water, snacks, camera, id. typical things that's good to have while hiking) So, she thinks she needs one to carry all of her hiking stuff. She finally found a Dora one at Target that we couldn't say no to, mainly because of her extreme excitement and its price. Soon after she was ready to go hiking.

OK, that's great. But we bought the back pack on a Sunday and only hike on the weekends when Husband is home from work.

hmmm. I am a grown woman. Surely, if I can't handle taking two toddlers into the woods and making sure everyone makes it out alive then I have bigger problems than I thought. I can do this. So, I promised an afternoon hike. And it really was fabulous.

Daughter carried her backpack which held two sippy cups, 4 oranges, Wet Ones and paper towels. She loved it!

photo op at the gazebo before we started.

Son is so excited. It's almost like he's on Santa's lap all over again!

he's still a super jumper

"Mommy, I found this branch. It's from a tree."

reading one of the flip signs that identify the trees on the Tree Trail. She says they say pretty much the same thing, "this tree has bark and leaves and berries."

The backpack slowed Daughter down, so to keep them closer together and easier to monitor I suggested hand holding. Lots of hand holding. I may have even screamed, "HOLD HIS HAND."

Now, this is the place where I'd put any playground pictures that I was posting. But well, they all looked the same as last time's playground pictures. So, instead here's some pictures of my kids playing in a sprinkler for the first time ever. The area around the playgrounds have been recently sodded so they are watered nightly. And of course, the timer goes off and the water turns on right as we were walking to the car.

Son loved it.

And Daughter did too.

And because I am a semi-prepared seasoned Mom-Of-Toddlers, extra clothes are almost always in the car. play away.

Palisades Park has a New Playground

Saturday even we stopped by Palisades Park (their facebook page. It's more current) for a little hiking and A LOT of playing on their new playground equipment. The kids love hiking AND parks, so it's always a treat to do both at one place.

Daughter found a rogue birthday balloon right as we started on the trail. She carried it for the entire hike.

At an intersection, announcing the letters. Well, Daughter was announcing letters. Son was just saying what she said. He's still learning.

"Look, Mommy. This tree is just my size. It's a for-me-tree."

We took a shorter hike than we usually do (only about 30 minutes) because I didn't want the kids to be too tired to try out the new playgrounds.

PlaygroundS? yes, two. There's one area designed for 2-5 year olds and a larger scale area for 5-12 year olds. The kids played in and loved both areas but really loved that the smaller equipment was just their size. (Remember how I've mentioned that Daughter names parks based on memorable things in them? She named this the Ryland and Finny park because it's their size)

2-5

I think this is the first time she's used playground rings.

His first time. hanging out.

monkey bars are a lot harder now that I'm older. Husband and I both tried the monkey bars on the older playground and laughed and laughed at how hard it was for us 'old timers'

5-12

easy peasy for a super climber

more climbing

tunnel sliding

Husband, the creeper, ALWAYS such a hands on parent. ;-)

We only had two negatives about the playgrounds. Inside the fence playgrounds, there was NO WHERE for parents to sit down except the ground - which was very soft because of all the wood shavings, but still. A bench wouldn't have broken anyone's budget. AND the swings. They were all ridiculously low to the ground. like when the kids sat in swing on either playground their bottoms were only about 4 inches off the ground!

Other than that, we all had a great time. Well, the kids had a great time regardless of those two things. They don't care about benches and too short swings!

If I ever take the kids by myself for hiking and playground fun, I will be breaking out The Mighty.

Turkey Creek Nature Preserve

I'm not into Mother's Day. I don't want breakfast in bed. um, crumbs much? I don't want home (or store bought) cards. I'm not interested in flowers or brunch or mani/pedis or special jewelry with my kids' birthstones in them or all the other stuff that Hallmark and other marketing conglomerates tell me I need. (that's fine if you do. I sincerely hope all your Mother's Day dreams come true) I just wanted to spend the day with my kids and the man who helped me make them. And that's all I want pretty much every Sunday.

We went to Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson. We've been talking about going since in opened in 2008 and we finally felt the kids were old enough for the "hiking" part.

The start of the "trail" we went on. I'm not sure if a paved walkway in the woods can count as a hiking trail under normal circumstances, but when you have a 2 and a 3.5 year old with you, it does! It ended up being exactly what we needed. One big hill that we all ran down and then huffed back up on the way out, the rest was pretty steady and easily manageable for us all.

Daughter wanted to take this home, cover it with peanut butter and bird seed so the birds would have something to eat. Say what you want about television, but a couple of hours of it a day gives my daughter some fabulous ideas that we haven't read to her in books.

(notice the chicken mcnuggets and fries we had for our picnic before we started? Mom of the day award right there. a lunch of tan/yellow)

Husband and Daughter starting out. Don't you LOVE her long shorts? I do. I would have gotten more than one pair if they were cheaper than $11!

Old Man Son and his walking stick. We laugh that he either acts like a baby or an old man. I also made sure his shorts had lots of pockets because he's a rock collector.

a scenery shot. It really was a nice walk. We heard lots of birds and saw a couple of lizards and I even spotted a couple of black berry bushes.

At the end. We stopped for a water break before we headed back to the car to get to another trail and the water.

walking back. It's nice when your kids want to hold your hands.

"Daddy, take my pitcher three times." This is one of them

Son and Husband getting into the water at the Eagle Scout trail. Daughter and I kept walking down the trail a little bit and met them later.

We met them at a faster part of the water and you can tell by the expression on his face, Son thought I was holding on entirely too tight. But I was in no mood to have to perform a heroic rescue.

Our view of The swimming Hole. We played on the upper shallow side.

Daughter checking it out.

I would suggest if you want to get in the water here to bring appropriate shoes! the kids didn't mind stepping on tons of little sharp rocks but I did. Husband said if I didn't spend so much time getting dead skin off my feet then I'd have a natural layer of protection. (I wore my socks and that helped a little but next time I'm going to bring my crocs and get water shoes for the kids)

digging through the rocks to find "meteors"

throwing rocks. seriously, my kids LOVE throwing rocks in the water.

Husband watching the kids play

splashing. I stayed out of this little bit of fun. Next time, I'll pack extra clothes for everyone and not just the kids.

Also, Daughter got her shorts soaked and asked me if she could get "butt wet" I think she meant "butt naked" because when I said yes she tried to take off her panties too! sorry, kid. no skinny dipping.

Son threw his fair share of rocks

Son and Husband playing. notice Son's hands full of rocks

climbing

another big view shot. lots of people came and went while we were there.

Daughter and Husband out in the "deep" I said, say cheese and to their right, Son did. So they looked

"ccchhhheeeeeeeeessssse"

Son also chose to take his pants off and play in just the diaper

out in the "deep" She was a little apprehensive about Husband taking her out there, but did great.

the finale of the day: ice cream

strawberry

cotton candy

Mother's Day win.