We went outdoors.
With the spirit of adventure.
It was an arduous hike that could have taken millions of years--like our destination.
But didn't.
The kids did better than I thought, especially because Adrienne was in the back carrier.
I didn't happen to be the carrier of the back carrier, or it would have taken a million years and a trip to the emergency room to get there and back.
Burke was a trooper.
It was worth it in the end, though. We all felt a sense of accomplishment and were even more excited to see what treasures awaited us inside the cave.
My old high school biology teacher was the ranger at the top of the trail. He greeted me with a hug.
The kids were wide-eyed after seeing me hug a strange man.
Got lots of questions.
Giggled a bit.
We entered the cave and the darkness surrounded us.
Poor Adrienne.
I told the kids about my brother's song about this same cave when he was little:
"Oh, we're going to the caaaaaave,
Where they turn out the lights,
And I get scaaaaaared!"
The kids really had a great time, but by the time we got to the bottom of the trail, they all said they didn't ever want to go back. They were too tired to ever do it again.
Hmmmmm.
Maybe it will be a little bit like having a baby. All the pregnancy and delivery difficulty recedes from memory and you are left with only the thoughts of cute little baby hands and feet and cute little smiles.
I would like to make this a tradition. Hopefully memories of the trail's difficulty will recede and they will remember only these things:
No family adventure would be complete without Annika making some special friends along the way. On this trip she chatted up the rangers who were on the tour, and told the guide that she wanted to be a ranger like him when she grew up. He melted.
At the end the ranger on the right gave her a special sticker that said she helped protect the cave and the ranger on the left let her wear his hat for this photo. She was pretty excited.
It was a great chance to get out and let the kids experience something that I did when I was little.
Although we were pretty sore the next day, I think they had a lot of fun. Hopefully I can talk them into it next year.
4 comments:
Looks beautiful. I wish I had gone this summer with my hubby and kids.
You guys are such great parents! What a fun day trip for your family.
Mr Reese?
No, it was Mr. Jay Allen. I don't know if you ever took a class from him.
When I told Burke my old biology teacher worked at the cave, he also asked if it was Mr. Reese. I guess that is who we all think of when high school biology comes up.
I guess that is a testament to Mr Reese's influence on us.
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