** this was all pre-bee sting drama **

I dragged the kids out for a hike Sunday. Outdoorsy, we are not! It was a beautiful weekend though, and when I mentioned a hike on Saturday they were all for going Sunday. We were busy Saturday anyway. When Sunday rolled around they wanted no part of it. However, as I suspected, once we got out there they loved it! Mostly. The hill proved to be quite steep, so there were a few times when they swore they just. could. not. go. on. But we persevered and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the fall foliage. We hiked up the back side of a skiway, so for the return trip we just went down the slopes, a trip which would have been much faster on skis! :)

Check out this cool spiney tree.

Lex was doing good for awhile!

Alan convinced Eve to go barefoot!  She loved the mud squishing in her toes. :)

This hike was part of the Appalachian Trail.  We came across a cool lodge and stopped for a visit.  For some reason this one had three fireplaces!  We checked it out, had a snack, then continued on.

The incline got steeper…

… and the kids got tired-er.

Lex giving me a good grumpy face. :)

The view from the top was amazing!!

Straight down!

We went down the front of mountain, straight down the ski slope!

Check out this cool rock we came across.  We spent some time climbing on and around it.  There’s another big one right next to it, behind those two trees, and a fallen down tree between the two which made for a great climbing bridge.  Good times!

Then home again, home again, went the tired hikers.  A good day and a good time was had by all… until they went outside to play that evening…