Happy trails

I love hiking! Sadly, my children do not always share this passion for walking about aimlessly. Not that I consider it aimless, but Ava and Rowan at times find the activity boring and too tiring. So I have to come up with diversions and just a bit of bribery (yes, I know this probably runs counter to the child rearing books). Sometimes the bribery takes the form of: "let's take a walk and then we can stop at the store for a treat on the way home" or "we can go swimming at the falls, after we take a hike." I always feel a little triumphant if I can go for a hike that is strenuous enough for my exercise starved legs but mild enough to keep my little companions smiling.

I feel especially happy about walks/hikes where my kids aren't looking for any exterior reward. The kind of walks where the journey is just the thing...like counting the 224 steps down and back up the gorge, spying the first woodland flowers carpeting the forest floor, listening for birdsong, finding animal tracks ( bear or coyote?), muddied fingers and breaks beside the creek. Trillium blossoms