Getting out of the house was difficult. Ali couldn't decide what to wear and acted like our suggestions were illogical and unrealistic. Mia wanted to wear flip flops. Eva gathered 4 granola bars and 6 barbies. Attitudes did not improve when we tried to motivate the girls with visions of our fun, family hike. "Fun? A hike? Like, you want us to all drive somewhere far away so we can walk outside? Oh yeah. Sounds great..." God bless sarcastic daughters and the teens they will become.
Eventually we arrived on Sauvie Island, north of the city. We found the trailhead and started out with Ali stepping gingerly over cow pies and Mia worrying about the thorny bushes.
Do you know what happened? It started to rain. What seemed to be amounting to the worst outdoor experience that would ruin my girls' appreciation for nature forever and make them likely to flat out refuse future hikes turned right around with the rain! We produced the granola bars Eva had brought along and discovered that the thorny bushes were actually thickets of wild blackberries! We found a lake and the cows that had left the lovely pies. We faced the mystery and excitement of going through a gate that wasn't locked up after all. We heard a squealing pig and decided to turn back after a couple miles... Wild pigs are not taken lightly where we come from.
I am so pleased to say that the day was a success. We arrived at the car wet and muddy but happy. The girls (and Joe) said they had lots of fun and are looking forward to our next hike which will hopefully have more of a destination. Eva would like to hike to a lake to swim, and Mia and Ali would like to hike to a waterfall. I think we can manage both requests this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment