Little Adventurers!

Yesterday, Justin and I took the little monsters (I mean Mosca's...) to hike Blue Hill. Its was a great adventure!

Blue Hill hike, September, 2011.
Jennie was 21 months old

We packed up early, and hit the trail at 9:30 am. I am so impressed with how far we've come with packing. I think back to doing this hike with Jennie a couple years ago (when she was almost 2) and we brought a TON of stuff! I mean, the red-dot hike that we do at Blue Hill is less than 2 miles round trip and we probably packed about 2 gallons of water, enough food for three meals, and at least 5 diapers. This time around, we had a very reasonably small amount of "stuff." I am proud to say that we actually used everything in the backpack, except for the extra pants (no leaky diapers or accidents).

Jacob was very skeptical with his ride-a-long backpack at first, but he got into it and really enjoyed all the sticks and rocks we let him carry, and all the trees he could touch along the way. He was very happy to get out and do a little "hiking" on his own at the top. As soon as he was walking along the rocky ground, he started giggling and looking back at Jennie. I think he was so excited to hike just like his big sister!


Jennie was an amazing hiker! She immediately got a walking stick, and loved climbing on the rocks and learning to hike. We taught her how to use her hands for balance when climbing up, how to follow the trail markers, and how to find the "best route" when faced with a difficult part. Jennie really enjoyed scaling the big rocks and then telling Mommy and Daddy what the best way to go would be. At first, she kept wanting to hold my hand. I would say no and then show her a good way to climb up. After about 10 minutes of hiking, she yelled at me for trying to hold her hand and help. Little Miss independent - I love it!

Snack time!

 At the top of Blue Hill there is a tower and lots of tables. We had a snack and explored a little. Jennie kept calling it her princess castle. She even invited us to go in... how nice of her! We headed back down the mountain and taught Jennie some down-hill skills like using her stick for balance and turning around to climb down backwards for big rocks. She really enjoyed it, and had great energy until the very end. I think she finally decided she was too tired to go any further when we had only about 400 yards to go! Justin and I were quite impressed with our tiny little 3 and a half year old. Jake on the other hand did not make it as long. He passed out less than half way down.

One moment, a happy hiker!

Next moment, a happy dreamer!

 All in all, a really nice family outing. Hopefully we can keep getting them out in the woods to hike and camp and explore. Nothing beats an all natural education in the great outdoors!

What a difference one and a half years makes!!