Making mudpies

Our record of making park days this fall/winter has been dismal. Between illnesses, travel, and the stinkin' weather, we've only made about one out of every four or five park days. That a pretty bad showing for a gal who brought her 3 day old baby to park day!! ... but that was September. This is January. So this week, even though the forecast said a 60% chance of rain, even though it was bound to be muddy even if it wasn't raining, even though I had had a sore throat all week, we went for it. None of the kids was sick (except one small runny nose) and it wasn't raining at the moment. So we went.

Apparently everyone else had the same idea! It was a very crowded park day! After only about an hour, we were all itching to move so we set off on a grand adventure. We thought we were taking a short walk, but the boys took the lead and soon we were committed to The Big Hike. (The Big Hike is usually reserved for blackberry picking in late summer.) The rivers had all wiggled out of their banks. The bridge was barely above the water line. The paths had all been dissolved into mud. Giant impassable ponds lurked behind every bend. But it was fun! We had such a blast. Some of the kids were skating in their mud-caked sneakers while others had given up entirely and were tackling the trail in bare feet (or was it a bear-like feat?). We adults did our best to tread lightly and stay above ground. The kids stopped caring long before and splashed right through the center of the flooded paths. I think they probably had the right idea.

Despite the mud and the muck, the weather stayed nice through the majority of the hike. It was only during the last quarter-mile that it started to sprinkle on us and then, just as the parking lot was in sight, the sky opened up and dumped on us. LOL! Greyson, who had been one of the lead hikers the entire way (!), finally hit his limit and just stood there shivering in the cold, wet, parking lot. Poor guy. I had to carry a damp, tired baby in one arm and a soaked and cranky Greyson in the other! But we got everyone stripped down to the bare essentials and wrapped in blankets for the ride home and all was good. Hot chocolate sealed the deal on a perfect rainy day.

Gotta love it when you can embrace the weather rather than fighting it.