We weren't exactly socially distant, but we were outside and both of our families have been isolated (It's not like we went back out again a week later though I kinda wish we did!).
Molly brought the dogs. Loki would've loved to have joined us, but we don't have a great leash for him. He seems to overheat if he's outside and too active for overlong, too.
We walked by a kid who'd just pulled out a fish out of the water. Shane was mesmerized. "I want to go fishing!"
We walked on, though. Henry said they had some fishing poles, but he was much more interested in building a fort!
We went up a hill that overlooked the reservoir. There was a path on the other side that went into town. I had no idea this was so close to us.
A sign marked a trail, but the arrow must have been optional. Henry led us UP the hill.
The path arced up in a steep arch. It wasn't even a true path as much.
The real trail was at the BOTTOM of the hill. The ladies followed the arrow. I followed the boys up to save Carrie's ankles and her worrying about Shane walking along a 45 degree slant!
Henry's detour was the exact opposite of a shortcut. We went up and came right back down where the moms walked through. We had to be careful not to slip down leaves while the they walked and talked nonchalant!
I like hiking. I prefer when someone else initiates it, so today fit the bill perfectly.
Exploring is fun! I'm normally too preoccupied with taking care of everything and everyone to just up and go about it.
There was a world of green around us. All my pictures doubled in size as the camera tried to capture it all. I can't imagine leaving far from trees all the time. There a normal part of Virginia.
We came to where Henry wanted to build. He loves tools and treats the world like Minecraft.
The dogs were happy to be near the water.
I don't know if Loki would've jumped in, but he would've been a sponge compared to the retrievers!
Carrie, Molly, and I all stood a little off while the boys talked and built. For me, it's because I didn't want to hover over everything they did. Kids need time to be kids! Shane has a lot more oversight than I did growing up and I liked him to have more time on his own.
So I can't tell you exactly what caused him to march off making angry faces and sitting down on his own! He walked right through where we were talking with clenched fists and stomping. He sat down and pouted off by a tree.
I'm sure he wanted us to stop everything we were doing and ask why he was upset, but he didn't communicate anything so I let him go through to process on his own some.
Shane eventually came back and said that Henry wasn't sharing the tools he said he would. We processed a little bit and he went back to playing.
The next time he came back it was with a bug!
The boys really wanted to cut down a dead tree with Henry's machete. They went at it a long time before they asked me to help some.
There was no handle grip to speak of! I felt the metal digging into my hand as much as the tree!
I didn't help for very long. I spent nearly the next hour looking like this.
There was a staff meeting. I watched from my phone.
I had seriously thought about playing hooky. No one would've noticed and I had plenty of people who could've encapsulated the experience for me, but I wandered off to the side and tried to be in two worlds at once.
Carrie started to help with the tree. It proved to be incredibly stubborn, but not at stubborn as she was.
She let the kids have some swings in between marveling at it's refusal to fall.
The tree did fall, but I didn't capture the momentous occasion.
Henry could have stayed building for hours, but we all moved on up the hill. My 30 minute meeting went on for over an hour as I walked between and tried to keep tabs on both groups - The ladies in the lead and the boys walking far, far behind.
We were outside for nearly three hours. I made the call to turn around to head home for food! The boys had fun, but there were already some signs they were getting tired of each other. It was better to end of a good note!
I made Shane do a tick check when we got home. He found a new friend trying to hide in his bellybutton.
I love trees, but I hate ticks. I compulsively check and caught one on my arm while we'd been out.
It was a fairly epic first outing for the month. I hope we go out again!
(SPOILER: We didn't, but Shane got a lot of socialization out of his system! Maybe eventually!).
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