Today we decided since we all had
the day off that we would do a fun family activity. We had already been to the apple farm on
Saturday and spent the last two days together just hanging out.
We decided to do a “quick hike.”
Now, I promise, we are outdoor people. We hike, camp and love the outdoors in
general.
But today? You would
have thought it was the first time we had ever taken 6 kids hiking with us.
Oh wait- it was the first time we’ve ever taken 6 kids
hiking.
It was more like a natural disaster, which, usually we do
pretty well with, and today was no different.
Have you ever tried to herd six cats? That's about the most concrete description I can give it. But it sure was funny, in a crazy, dirty, what the heck were we
thinking, kinda way.
We waited til it cleared up and once again, proved just how
BEAUTIFUL New York is! My amazing
husband did some research after we decided to go to Chestnut Ridge State park
and he found a short trail, that he thought was short, but clearly, was
much longer than he realized. The hike
leads you on a what would normally be a very nice, clear, wide, trail, all the
way to the a site that has a waterfall with a flame inside it. It's called "Eternal Flame" which cracks me up because if any of you are my age or older, you'll recall the song, 'Eternal Flame' by the Bangles and I kept humming it all the way down the trail. Needless to say, I was getting on someone's nerves pretty badly at one point....(but it made me laugh outloud!!) The trail and flame are pretty cool. But it’s been raining. A lot. And even though we waited
til it cleared up, the trail was still a TAD muddy.
We also seemed to have forgotten what it’s like to hike with
an infant because neither one of us even THOUGHT about bringing the backpack or
the little front carry pack.
Seriously? How can you hike
carrying a baby? The first thing my
husband said was, “Do you want to try to bring the stroller?”
I must of looked at him with this “Who the heck are you?”
kind of look, because he quickly said, “Well, I thought I read it was a nice
wide clear path.”
Looking back now, we both can laugh our tooshies off-
because that trail was ANYTHING but clear and wide and smooth….
On the contrary, there was lots of roots, steep drops,
steps, dead trees blocking the trail, and water every which way we turned. Which the kids absolutely loved.
We really didn’t have too much trouble until we headed back
from the oohing and ahhing over the “eternal flame.” Suddenly, everyone had to pee and we needed
to find a spot off the beaten path to allow the younger ones to pee.
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| Standing in front of the "eternal flame" |
Now, I’m 40 years old and have hiked and “pottied” in the
woods for a pretty long time. Sorry if
this is TMI, but I’m keeping it real for you. I don't want for one second that you think we are ALWAYS the perfect family...
I thought when my husband took the younger girls to the back of the
trail, he’d be able to help them, but what happened next, is only typical for
our family. My 10 year old runs back yelling
that the 5 year old has proceeded to pee all over herself. Sure enough, as she emerged with my husband
and the 8 year old, her pants were SOAKED!
Good grief. The first thought was, of course,
I have no extra clothes for the 5 year old.
Time for some good ole fashioned creativity. I’ll be sure to post her picture of her
makeshift outfit, that she wore with quite a bit of dignity and never once
complained, well, except once when it was falling down and her bootie was hanging
out in the back.
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| the "make shift" outfit... |
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| My 13 & 12 year olds... |
But we survived that ordeal and once back to the van, we
laughed again about the stroller idea and headed back into the park to find a
picnic table for dinner. We were all
famished.
We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing the beauty of
yet another spot we have “discovered” here.
Can’t wait to go back, with extra clothing of course…
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| You can see Canada from here!!! |
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| Perfect sunset in a beautiful place! |
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