I left my heart in Calico Basin.

I posted the two previous posts without any proofreading.  they are long and drawn-out and full of grammar errors.  and I don't care, suckas!  rambling and typos happen when you're sleep deprived (and have five kids and eight pets...)  We just got home from hiking.  it was a beautiful sunny day.  We had 26 kids at forest school today (with 5 moms supervising.)  I had personal reasons for canceling it that have nothing to do with the lack of sleep and everything to do with menstrual cramps, but I knew I would feel better going outside and enjoying the sun.  And I was right.  It felt so good to socialize, laugh, and get some exercise.  I love the women in my life and the boys who have become my sons friends through this Friday tradition we've established.  Calico Basin is on the list of my top ten favorite places in the world.  It's not hard to understand why...

Last Friday we hiked to the waterfall in the Red Rock loop.  It was a smaller group (meaning this time we only had 15 kids) but we were down to two moms.  I carried Roma in a sling and she was furious about it.  This girl does NOT want to be carried.. Throughout the 2 mile hike, she continuously screamed and hit me in the face.  Simon kept telling me on the way back that he NEEDED to take a nap which officially means he was out of his mind tired.  But it was a beautiful day and it felt so good to be outside.  I want my children to have lots of lots of memories of exploring outdoors.  Sometimes it's not easy to pack up and hike with a bazillion kids, but somewhere in my mind's eye, I hear them saying to their future children, "I went hiking every Friday when I was a little boy and I had the time of my life."

If they don't happen to ever say such a thing, I know there will come a day when I will tell my nursing home friends (after Aaron dies of course) "There was a time in my thirties when I took my kids hiking every Friday.  The weather was breezy and the scenery was peaceful and my boys were full of energy.  I remember this one hike where I had to carry my daughter because it was too hard for her to walk on her own.  She was furious and hit me in the face the entire hike.  It was exhausting, but being out there was such a treasured time in my life."

and that will be the truth.  because it is.