551 east : the time we hiked the mountain

This last week was weird. All the kids had this strange cough, pink eye, stomach bug that lasted 48 hours and came with zero other symptoms. And they just went down like flies, one by one... every new day came with a new person saying "I feel great!" and another new victim saying "Blerggggh." Much time spent caring for tummies and eyes, and no time spent tending to the internets. By Saturday morning everyone was back to normal just in time for weekending and a little smidgen of this.

With the weather (why is she always talking about the weather?) has been on fleek lately (Sorry, I had to use that word before 2016 ruled it as dumb as it is) so we've been taking some nature strolls.

Normally we just do the dirt trail circuit behind our neighborhood. It's enough high adventure for the wild ones, but not too much for old mom.

But on Saturday while Jake was in the middle of the Great DIY Tile Extravaganza part 2, I got the bright idea to take all three of the boys on a legit mountain hike (sans stroller) by myself.

"All gluttons for punishment please raise your hand."

The first 1/4 mile of the trail wound through the forest floor and I snapped a million pics of my cute little hikers.

We started to climb a bit and I figured we would climb a little here and there so, no big deal. A nice nature walk.

Only it became more like a nature run and scream, followed by a nature whine until 2/3s of our future Eagle Scouts of America needed to be carried.

Up a gravely hill no less. I like to think of myself as the family clydesdale at time like this. Do you think I was in prime shape to handle this? You bet your tush I was absolutely not. But Rhett was frolicking like the mountain goat that he is. Rad tried to frolic too, but fell and skinned his knee. I wasn't worried about any wild critters coming after our injured party; Rad's screams made sure no one wanted to be in our vicinity.

Making it to the top of a peak (not the whole mountain) was a sweeter experience than I anticipated with the boys. I watched Rad grab Rhett's hand so that he could get an "energy boost" from him (eye-roll of cuteness). I watched Rhett encourage his battle wounded brother when he cried- "You can do it, Rad! Isn't this a fun hike?" Going into such outings I often overlook the bonding that is created. In my mind I'm just feeling desperate for them to burn some energy and not fight me on watching Diego all day and I don't encourage the family bonding aspect. Something to work on in the new year for sure.

We made it back and got a rousing cheer from some seasoned hikers who we were pretending to imitate. At the van, a desperate search for the car keys lead to the realization that they had become part of the desert landscape.

Of course.

We back tracked a little, prayed a little, almost lost super helpful Rhett who sneakily took advantage of my semi panic and wandered off the trail to "find the keys", and couldn't find em so I moved on to plan B, call Jake with my best "I'm about to lose it" diatribe and have him come rescue his beloved family.