4th of July 2017

This year for the 4th I was wanting to do something different...something new. For years we have done the parade and it was feeling stale. The kids have gotten bigger and we needed something different. 

I had the genius idea to go for a family hike. The weather was beautiful and I found a trail not far from us that Tuba could easily navigate. We set off decked out in our red/white/blue outfits to celebrate by getting in touch with nature. 

 George was excited. He was all in! Enthusiasm and energy and excitement.

 Sis was medium excited. She loved the horses we saw as we headed into the woods. Her excitement came to a screeching halt when she encountered bugs. EEEEK!! She hates flies. And I mean HATES flies. The same kind of hatred that I have for snakes. Blech!!! She darted, dipped, dashed, ran, swatted, shrieked, waved, hollered and cried to get the flies away from her. Poor girl. There were a lot  of flies. In actuality the flies just moved around us but she was so worried and just sure they were going to land on her.

 But the scenery was beautiful and we were here to hike....so on we went.

We did some I spy and some scavenger hunt activities to distract Sis from the flies and to keep the kids moving.

Tuba did okay...really he'd rather be sitting around but he tolerated the walking.

By now maybe you're wondering if Mr. P and Moses were along on the hike. Oh yes, they were. In hindsight I wished I had left them home. At the start of the hike they were lagging behind. The trail goes many different directions and Cam and I kept prodding them to keep up so we would all stat together. But...the teenager reared his nasty teenagy self and because we wanted him to keep up he lagged behind even more. Moses (who doesn't really like hiking) decided that he would buddy up with his brother in the obstinate (butt head) club.

Several times they were told to come along. They were staying far enough behind and then hiding so we couldn't see them. The were lagging behind on purpose and I was getting miffed so finally I told them that if they didn't keep up and we lost them that we would NOT wait for them at the van. I told them that we would leave them there and they could walk home (it's about 15 miles). And then, off the rest of us went.

For the rest of the hike we didn't see the boys. I wasn't too worried until we reached the point where we turned around and went back. Poor George started fretting and got so worked up worrying about his brothers. I too was getting worried.  

All of the way back we didn't see the boys. Sis continued freaking out over the flies. Tuba was really tired as we had now gone about 4 miles. As we neared the van I hoped the boys would be there. There they were sitting in the shade. I was really mad. They were acting like turds and had refused to do what we asked them.

I decided that we would take the kids out for ice cream on the way home. I informed the two stinkers that they would have to sit in the van and not get a treat. They ruined our hike and they needed to know it.

So, we went out for ice cream and enjoyed every bite.

On the drive home the boys did humbly apologize. That was nice. The rest of our 4th we spent at home. We had a delicious dinner and our traditional berry shortcake dessert.

Looking through the pics I don't see any of Moses. Well, he was there.

 As for Sis..she is still traumatized by the flies and NEVER wants to go on a hike again in summertime. She likes fall and winter hikes when the bugs are dead. :)

Not sure what we will do next year for the 4th but it won't be a family hike.