We got out!

So, remember my concern that Jase wouldn't take kindly to the whole Hiking thing? I didn't know there would be rocks:

Gorgeous rocks! Big rocks! And they were everywhere! I knew we'd picked a winner when Jase filled me in on what I'd missed (in the short time it took me to take off my own pack and go climb with them):

"It was huge and slippery and kind of scary, but James helped me get up there! And then John helped me jump over the hole near the edge. And then we climbed some more. And Mom :inhale deeply: THANK YOU for making us come! This place is awesome!"

I even got a hug for my efforts.

James and John got in on the action. Emily could happily spend days on the trail, seeing all there is to see. And Jacob? He was amazing. We hiked about 1.5 miles, but covered a lot more than that with segues over the rocks, vertical coverage, and other miscellaneous distractions (including a stop at the creek). I'd estimated we would hike "not nearly long enough for the 10yo, but a little bit farther than the 5yo will willingly go", and that turned out to be just about right. I'd brought chocolate for that last leg. One square of chocolate will buy me about 30 yards of complaint-free progress. 20 yards if it's steeply uphill.

That said, we have got to go more often. The two littlest aren't quite as... adept at scrambling about on rocks as the older ones are. (That's entirely my fault - when I only had two or three, we went somewhere every week, and they learned to scramble shortly after they'd learned to walk.) You have to have a good relationship with your own center of gravity to be comfortable on rocks, and you can only really develop it by getting out there and exploring it. So, we'll go. I spent too much of  our time on the trail trying to control my own breathing, catching myself from yelling, "Watch out!" by making weird squeaking noises and clearing my throat a lot. We went with new friends; I'm sure she thinks I have a verbal tic and a nervous condition.

Jase wasn't daunted, though, and he did a fantastic job!

(There's a 40' drop on the other side of that rock. If this were video, you could hear me squeaking to myself when he got to the top.)

I'll follow his example. It's a good one.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy