Hiking: Swanson Park (2)

Today we set off on our second hike of the new year.  The kids and I went on this trail during the summer and it was super lush with plants and trees.  Over the summer the park area was pretty lame, but the city recently updated the playground so it was a nice incentive for the kids to have a playground to play at after the hike.  During the summer I couldn't really grasp how long the trail was, but today we were able to complete the entire thing.

The Swanson Park trail is a pretty narrow trail because it's meant for mountain biking (even though it is pretty flat).  The trails weave in and out of each other which was fun on a day like today beucase I was comfortable giving the boys more freedom to run ahead because I could see them, versus in the summer where they would easily disappear.

I'd warned the boys last night that we'd be hiking today, and I think that helped when we decided to pack up and go.  We almost didn't because it was chillier in the morning, I slept terribly, and so we did a family outing to the gym in the morning.  But, we rallied and the afternoon turned out to be lovely.  We walked on the trail for about an hour and then the kids played baseball and at the playground for another hour.

The hike reminded me of hiking with Theo when he was a little guy, around Max's age, because he'd get whiny and we'd of course be far from our destination or car.  So we'd sing, I'd engage him in all sorts of questions, and stories.  Today he wasn't whiny, but he did spend quite a bit of the walk telling me about the birthday party he is planning for his stuffed bear Robert (his birthday is January 6th).  The elaborate plans changed when I told him it was his bear so he had to pay for the party/food...but I would supply teddy grahams.  Theo felt he might be able to scrap some allowance together to buy two McDonalds happy meals.  One for him and one for Woodrow and Max to share.  Ha!  That kid.

We had a really nice day, and came home pretty tired.  We spent the evening lounging around and are now watching the Wildcard football games and getting ready to put the little boys to bed.