In the middle of all the snow and freezing temps we’ve been having lately, I couldn’t help but notice a balmy 45 degree day in the forecast.
And this day happened to coincide with a 3-hour early dismissal from school for my kids. You better believe I circled and starred that day on my calendar. I hate cold weather, but even I need to get out and breathe fresh air every now and then.
Plus, 45 degrees isn’t THAT cold, right? (This is me giving myself a pep talk).
I’d noticed that a local trail was still mostly snowy so I rallied the kids for a snow hike.
One thing you should know about my kids: they love a hike. They immediately run off the trail looking for things to explore, and a snow hike gave even more opportunities than normal. The kids ran down to the creek and I hiked sort of parallel to them from the dry warm(ish) safety of the trail.
If you’re thinking, THE CREEK!? The kids got in THE WATER? In that weather!? Then you and I are on the same page. What you might not have considered is that even though my kids were wearing their snow boots, we are Richmonders. So though we DO have snow boots, this isn’t top-of-the-line gear. These are hand-me-down, was waterproof once upon a time, and probably a size or two too big boots. In short, I knew that my kids’ feet were all getting wet. My personal nightmare.
The kids were climbing under roots, up and down the banks, and I noticed Anna falling behind a little. She kept slipping and seemed to be struggling to keep up with her siblings.
I called out to her, “Boo Boo! Why don’t you come up here and hike with Mom!”
With a nearly audible eye roll, she responded, “NO! I’m trying to have FUN!”
Oof, zing. Minus one for fun mom.
But she did. She kept up, and we all had a LOT of fun.
We had so much fun that I had to pry them out of the creek when the sun was setting and I was staring down a mile of hiking in the dark with four kids and only one iPhone flashlight.
By the time we made it back to the van it was completely dark. On the hike Thomas had mentioned a few times that his feet were wet, so I told him that he could take his socks off as soon as we got to the van. When he did, I saw that his feet weren’t just wet. His socks were saturated, dripping wet. All of the kids kicked off wet boots and socks and I watched in amazement. They’d hiked nearly a mile completely uphill, in the dark, with cold wet boots and socks. And they’d barely complained at all.
Can I brag about my kids for a second? Because I think this warrants it. NOT complaining about being cold and wet is certainly not something I’ve modeled. They just did it because they’re tough, and they know that an awesome winter adventure is worth a little temporary discomfort. After all, we’re trying to have FUN!
