Vacation-Anything But Relaxing

The vacations my husband and I took before children were not most people's idea of vacation. We're not beach people. We're not pool people. We're national park people. And we're not drive through and see the sights people. We're the hike everywhere, scoff at the moderate and strenuous ratings and see how much less time it takes us than the stated times people. (OK, that last part might be me.)

With kids, we traded or backpacks to carry stuff for several days of camping for ones that carry kids. Let me tell you something, kids wiggle a lot more. My pack never pulled my hair or adjusted my hat a million times before kids. It's not easy to hike with 45+ pounds of child on your back, but we still do it.

AJ has managed his longest hike on this trip: 4.6 miles up and back to a mountain lake. He also hiked 3.5 miles up the side of a mountain yesterday with 38 switchbacks and 1,500 feet of elevation gain. That earned him a free ride down the mountain on my back. Let me tell you, 5.5 miles of caring kiddos up and down a mountain is exhausting.

The good news is that AJ is getting older and more capable of hiking on his own. The bad news is Teddy is getting older and heavier to carry. Hopefully it balances out the next few years that Dave and I can split carrying Teddy without needing to give AJ rides, so we can continue to explore our great outdoors to the fullest extent.

But I think the rest of the family might need some horseback lessons because I see that as it future once we can no longer carry Teddy on hikes.

Hey, let's hike up a mountain like that!