How to make an adventure

A few Saturdays ago, we were planning on exploring a new park in West Seattle.  I packed up some sandwiches, some apples, carrots, hummus, chips, and a few cookies, and we headed out for our picnic adventure.  However, once we got to the beach park (about 30 minutes away), we realized that neither Richard nor I had remember to bring the backpack full of food.  For about 10 minutes I was devastated.  I was so looking forward to my pbj and carrots and hummus.  It was lunchtime so we ran across the street and picked up some subway sandwiches.  But every bite tasted of disappointment to me.  I wanted the picnic I had packed at home!!  I recovered, and we had a great afternoon exploring and playing by sea.  But there was still the issue of that lovely lunch that I had packed...

And on the way home, I formulated a new plan:

what if we hiked around our backyard when we got home and then had a picnic in our house and ate our "lunch" for dinner? 

When we got home, Richard and Anna strapped on their headlamps and headed out to the backyard to find some creatures in the wilderness.  Playing with the headlamps is one of their special bonding mechanisms.  They will strap them on and then go hide in the closet and tell stories and giggle.

 

 

Also, Richard does this with Pringles chips that Anna loves.  He puts two in his mouth and pretends that they are a duckbill.  Anna just rolls and laughs and asks him to do it again and again.  And then she eats them.  Anna would sell her right arm for Pringles (left handed you know).

Benjamin is the easiest, roll-with-it kind of baby.  During our one attempt at camping this past year, he was the one having the easiest time.  He takes things in stride.  Here he is lounging in the princess chair.

All in all, it was a great adventure day.  I really enjoyed having a picnic for dinner in our kitchen.  It was playful and made a great memory for our family.  It just took me some time to recover from the day I had planned in my mind.  I have this idea of the kind of experience I want, and then when things start taking a different turn I have the tendency to mope and to mourn the loss of the memory I wanted to have, but what I have learned is that you don't have to go far to be adventurous and to think outside the box.  And also that no day spent with your family is a waste.  And as far as Anna was concerned, it was all part of the grand plan to have fun together.  Mission accomplished!

Mount Si

I remember days before we had kids, when Richard and I would just decide to go on a hike.  And it didn't matter what we packed, or how long the hike was, or whether we had a change of clothes, or if we had even told anyone where we were going.  And then we had kids

And suddenly, going on a hike meant a few things:
1) you couldn't hike any longer than 3 miles because you would be carrying a child for at least half of it, and the more your kids weigh and more distracted they get by things like leaves and sticks and rocks...the longer the hike gets.  We once went on a 2.8 mile hike that felt like a 10k by the end and took us hours because of kid drama along the way
2) you couldn't just pack a water bottle.  You had to pack snacks, diapers, a change of clothes, a few books, some toys, more snacks, a camera....by the end, you were lugging a small suitcase up the mountain with you
3)  you couldn't stop and enjoy the vistas you want to enjoy.  Chances are, your child will want to stop for an hour to look at a worm digging a hole or the poop left behind by a small dog.  But once you get to the incredible view at the top....nope, they will be off down the trail again because they dropped one fruit snack and their policy is "no fruitsnack left behind"

So, on Easter weekend, we had Richard's mother in town.  We planned a number of very exotic dates like getting hot chocolate at Starbucks and sitting on a couch and talking or getting an ice cream cone and taking a walk.  But I told Richard that I wanted to do a hike, just the two of us, where we could never take our kids.

WE chose Mount Si.  Not only is it the place where Scott Jurek trained for the Western States 100, but it has possibly the most beautiful view I have ever seen from the top of any mountain.  We had a beautiful, warm, clear sunny day, so you could see the Olympics, the Cascades, Mt. Ranier, and both downtown Bellevue and Seattle in the distance.  We were truly at the top of the world. Four miles up.  3700 feet elevation gain.

And yeah, my legs killed me for days.  I didn't know my calve muscles could be so vindictive in their merciless screaming.  But it was so worth it !!