took a quick hike in the woods with the boys and the dogs in the woods after work tonightthe hikes are short
but life is cumulative
it is not everyday that the boys are enthusied to hike with me and the dog
grant is really an agile little creature for two and a half
well...
grant is an agile little human for two and a half
a monkey at that age would more than likely be close to full grown and swinging from the trees
that does not happen for humans till his older brother Dean's age, 5 or so
the hike was the usual loop across the street
the boys were dressed in borrowed halloween costumes
grant was wearing a Superman costume with built in muscles and a cape that was so long that it reminded me of The Incredibles
"no cape"
dean was wearing a Red Power Rangers Mystic Force costume
dean also had built in muscles but his costume was a tad too small
I think the muscles gave them added energy
we did the hike with the usual loop
with the notion of mushroom hunting as a task for the event
having hiked this same stretch just 10 hours prior I knew that the recent rains had provided a good variety of mushrooms right off the trail
the boys hiked along at a healthy Parkour pace
grant falling like Maggie from the Simpsons repeatedly due to his long cape
dean being a good leader waiting for us up ahead
the boys got excited at each patch of mushrooms
I always reinforced that they needed to stay on the trail
only to look at the mushrooms from the trail
luckily many of the mushroom groupings occured right on the trail side
the boys got in close
I reminded them not to touch
but to leave the mushrooms for other hikers to see on their walks
the topic of poison always comes to surface
where I tell them that not all mushrooms are poisonous
but to be safe we never eat them and try not to touch them
the temptation to touch things is always great with little boys
best that they do not pick them
better safe than sorry
short into the loop grant grew tired of falling and asked me to carry him
my efforts to shorten the cape
my efforts to tuck in the cape
my efforts to tie the cape in a knot
all of these efforts were met by a great panicked scream
the cape had to flow
even if the cape did cause him to trip and fall
so I carried grant on my shoulders for an uphill stretch
only to put him down at the next stretch that offered downhill momentum
it was a short 30 or 40 minutes in the woods
a stretch that sans kids is usually a 20 minute experience
a good enough gap of time to give mommy a break from the kids she loves so much
the same kids that make her insane
the same kids that make me insane
kids are awesome, but they can be demanding
we played on the sidewalk out front
mommy returned from her errand as the boys took turns jumping off the stairs
the boys greeted her as if they had not seen her in years
she is special
they love their mommy dearly
the boys are lucky to have her
she is lucky to have the boys