Nature Hike

Yesterday I called my sister to see what they were planning for the afternoon. She said her hubs was going out to ride his motorcycle leaving her alone with her four screaming banshees ..er... I mean, beautiful children. Since it was such a nice weather day we decided to go hiking. Plus it's free! Can't beat that. Here's Travis.... impatient with the slow pokes bringing up the rear. We went to the big state park that was only about a mile from our house when we were growing up. We spent many afternoons here as kids. Playing, hiking, and wading in the creek. Carla recently mentioned this on her blog. When they were out in Wyoming visiting our dad, he'd seen the blog mention and told her that he didn't even know we used to play over there. Funny, huh? Those were the days when parents confidently sent their kids outside to play and didn't see them again until the street lights came on. Teagan was eating four Pringles that he'd been carrying since we left his house. No, I mean literally holding in his hand for about a half hour. That's patience, man. This is the part of the trail that was very shaded. When it got a little darker Travis told us that "Sometimes nature can be creepy." LOL! When we finally found the creek, everyone got in to wade. Yep even me. I love my Crocs. Travis has been letting his hair grow longer. I love it! His dad used to just shave it all off or get those high and tight military buzz cuts. I hate those. I told him he looked cool like a surfer dude. So when Carla suggested he might need a haircut soon, he informed her that Aunt Krista liked his hair long so he wasn't cutting it. Awww.... that's my boy. I'm hoping Tanner grows his out too.Tatum informed me that this creek came from the big waterfall they'd seen on vacation. Not sure that it's flowed all the way from Wyoming. But I guess when you're 4 it all makes sense.Tatum taking a little break to get the dirt out of her Crocs. As you can tell by her wet head, she did a little more than wade in the water.
I hadn't seen the kids in about 3 weeks because of their vacation. I noticed right away that Teagan's face had thinned out quite a bit. He's losing that chubby face toddler look and starting to look like a little boy. He won't be 3 until March but I guess they grow fast.
Here the kids are chasing crawdads. Until they started coming too close and Tanner ran away screaming like a girl. That was funny to see. But we used to do it, too. For some reason we thought those suckers could inflict serious harm with those little tiny pinchers. Here's a snake skin we saw on the hike back. The kids were fascinated by it. But the funny quote of the day goes to Travis who after examining the skin said "Hmmmm... I guess there really is nature out here." That kid just cracks me up! It was fun in spite of the mosquitos who were on full alert since we'd forgotten the bug spray. Things didn't turn ugly until the ride home. That's when we had to turn around and abandon the pizza-for-dinner plan as punishment for too much yelling and fighting coming from the back of the van. The culprits will remain nameless. All I'll say is they weren't the two who are still in carseats. But maybe they should be better confined so they aren't always touching each other. What's with that "he's touching me" crap? The ultimate brother torment. I guess we all did it if we grew up with siblings. Oh and the word of the day apparently is now "idiot". Look at the bright side though Carla, at least the network wouldn't have to bleep it out when they call each other that. It could always be worse. LOL!