Saturday in the Park

This is a story about our Saturday family outing. We decided we should do something special since it was 7/7/07. Don't ask me why. It just seemed like it was a special day. We came up with lots of ideas like the zoo, the children's museum, or Hamilton Pool. But by the time we finished brainstorming ideas it was already almost lunchtime. So then we thought about going down to the Salt Lick, somebody mentioned needing to go to Home Depot, and then we almost decided to just stay home and join in the garage sale our neighbor was having. Our plans were deteriorating fast. We needed to get a move on.

We got in the car with Jackson yelling, "Where are we going??!?!" I waited quietly for Mat to reply since I wasn't sure either. A few minutes later we ended up at the Cirle C park, and he declared that we were going on a hike. Fun! Here is the first picture of the day. Jackson insisted on wearing a Santa Claus tie he found in Mat's closet. Yes, he's crying. He was tired of walking, and we were barely out of the parking lot.



We found a temporary solution to that problem. Now we're on our way.



Now, have I mentioned the heat? Well, let me tell you. It was a scorcher on Saturday. Jackson realized pretty quick that he was going to have to sacrifice fashion for comfort and come out of that tie. I was starting to realize that my own choice of jeans was not smart either. But hey, I thought we were going to Home Depot. We pressed on, determined to have a good hike.



Pretty soon we came to a creek that had overflowed the trail. With Jackson on his shoulders, Mat crossed first, and the water came up to his ankles. For a second, while contemplating how new my new Merrill hiking shoes would seem if I did the same, I entertained the idea of turning back. I decided I couldn't abandon my family like that, so being the trooper that I am I took off the new Merrill hiking shoes and crossed the stream. I have to admit it felt really good.



Now the second time the trail was submerged Jackson and I both took off our shoes and squished through the mud. It was kind of refreshing, but I was not crazy about taking the shoes off and on in the heat. Did I mention the heat? And Jackson didn't want to put his shoes back on, so we were moving sloooowwww. Mat's job in the family is to make sure that we (or I should say I) don't sink into negativlty, and so he did a good job of encouraging us to keep going.



Now come on! Off came our shoes again. This crossing was pretty swampy, and we hadn't seen a lick of shade in a long time. I was starting to worry about ring worms, hook worms, and just plain worm worms. I'm not going to lie to you. I was pretty cranky in this picture. As I was sweating in the blazing sun putting my shoes back on for the third time, I mentioned that maybe this would seem funny later...like in 10 or 15 years. :-) I was trying to be positive!



Thanks to Mat, we did manage to stop and smell the flowers along the way.



And everyone was happy when we finally reached our destination.





Rocky Mountain National Park it was not, but any day that I get to spend with my boys is special to me.

The End.