A Birthday excursion

"Daddy, Let's go for a hike,"

With water bottles in hand, Eliza led the way through Evansville State Park.  I wanted to go on a family hike to celebrate my (cough!) 29th birthday.  The kids were such troopers - especially Eliza who has a hard enough time walking on level ground - she didn't let the tree limbs and rocks stand in her way.  The weather was perfect, the mood was peaceful, the scenery amazing, and the company the best of all.

We didn't hike very far.  Eliza tired out easily (it's hard work for a 2 year old to walk up and down hills), and Zaby got heavy fast in the baby carrier.  What we did hike took us quite a while to accomplish.  Eliza kept picking up rocks, acorns, leaves, etc. to carry them and put them in her pocket.

 

We took frequent water breaks.  It was a miracle that we walked out of there without a poison ivy rash considering Eliza touched every plant/shrub we walked by.  In July, I found out (twice) that I have an allergy to poison ivy.  The painful, itchy rash all over my body was not something I was excited to repeat a third time, considering I had to take an oral steroid to get rid of the outbreak before. 

 When the trail ended at this bridge, we weren't sure which direction to take. 

It's a good thing we had our little map reader to orient us in the right direction.   

All kinds of trails, and we weren't sure what direction we were actually headed.  We took a wrong turn somewhere because the trail we took back to the car was not the one we intended to take, but we got there eventually.  

We made it back to the playground, where we had water, apples, and no bake oatmeal cookies.  Zaby didn't want to be left out and managed to shove a piece of cookie in his mouth before either of us could stop him.   

Happy Birthday to me!