Take a Hike

A few months ago, we decided to take a hike.  One warm day in October, Nana and I took the kids to lunch and decided to take them hiking at a local wildlife park.  The place we stopped – one we have been at several times before – boasts of an amazing waterfall and hiking trails.  So, off we went down the trail…

This is only the second or third hike the twins have been on, so everything was an adventure to them.  One of the cool features about this park is that you can hike down to the bottom of the falls, and then hike back up and over the top – actually crossing the water via stepping stones.  And, I was a good mommy and didn’t take them the way my brother and I used to go – directly over the falls.  Nope, instead I took them to the actual crossing area.  You know, the safe one.

As we were at the top of the falls, all of a sudden, Mo yells, “LOOK!”  We all stop suddenly… actually bumping into each other.

We look around – expecting to see a deer or rabbit.

Mo whispers, “Its a dinosaur track.”

Bo whispers, “We have to be very, very quiet so we can find him.”

We continue our walk.

“Shhhhhhhh,” Mo whispers.

“There he is!”  Bo replies.

Now, the hilarious thing was… the kids were so loud, even if there WAS a dinosaur, they would have scared him a way long before we got close.

This was one of those bittersweet trips.  My brother and I used to hike here a lot – especially off the gravel trail.  Yet, it just didn’t feel the same.  The falls were only a trickle, they had barricaded the pool below the falls after part of the limestone collapsed.  There were benches on the path.  It wasn’t like I remembered.

The twins had a lot of fun – looking for their dinosaur.  And, hopefully when they grow up they will remember that mommy and Nana took them hiking and how we all looked for the dinosaur tracks in the woods.

Thank God, we didn’t find him.

Julia is the divorced mom of twins, a blogger, a sometimes crafter, crazy snailmailer, and a corporate bean counter. In her "spare" time, she scrapbooks, travels, makes cards, blogs, designs jewelry, searches for missing cleats and pom poms, enjoys good dark chocolate, and sneaks naps.