Wet Hiking

Saturday morning Declan decided he'd like for us to go to a "Tree Park". Fantastic! So off to Crawford Lake we went. We started by visiting the native exhibit. Three Longhouses that were part of Iroquoian settlements. We sat in on a session learning about the people who lived there 600 years ago. 

When the leader asked if anyone had been down to the Lake yet Declan said "No. This is just the start of our journey." He cracks me up. When he asked why nobody lives in the Longhouses now the leader explained that people have learned new technology that have us living easier today. Declan then told her "My Mommy and Daddy say it was better to live a long time ago." I added "Not 600 years ago."

Next we headed down to the Lake. We walked the entire boardwalk path. We saw butterflies (Declan's favourite insect), dragonflies, birds and a frog. It was a great little adventure walk. Not good enough for Declan however who insisted we then go on a proper trail.

I insisted we go for lunch first to get some food energy which he agreed to. Around 2pm we were back at the trails and we'd picked the yellow path because it had the only marked look-out. A 2.4 km trail. The first third and we arrived at the look-out. A valley full of trees and some turkey vultures was nice to see but Declan had a look and quickly was ready to keep hiking. With about 1.5 km still to go the trail got a little more difficult with inclines and numerous rocks. It turned dark and we could hear thunder. Declan didn't like it but I assured him that thunder wouldn't hurt him. Then a little rain started which we could handle but then the skies opened up and down came torrential rain. I had to tuck my phone and watch into the middle of my backpack to try and keep it safe. Declan was starting to cry and said he wanted to go home. I had to tell him that I couldn't just make that happen so we'd have to keep walking through the rain but we wouldn't get hurt. The thunder got louder and the path became a combination of running water and two inch deep puddles. The rain really came hard. The both of us were soaked right through and I'll admit that while I did everything I could to assure Declan there was nothing to worry about I was nervous about being so far out in the trails in this condition. With about 10 minutes left of our trail the rain got lighter. I tried to make the situation fun for Declan by saying "splash, splash, splash" as we stepped through the puddles. Literally as we came to the end of the trail the sun was back out and the sky turned back to bright blue. A family was just starting their hike and starred at us as we exited the trail soaked right through to our undergarments "having fun?" they asked. "Absolutely!" I replied. As we walked to the car Declan says "that was the best adventure ever!" so I gave him a high five. 

Then we talked about the importance of my checking the weather on my phone before doing that again.

More Travel

The Muffin Man had a tough return to being home and back at Summer Camp. Maybe it was the week away but he got really attached and doesn't want to be away from me. Drop offs in the morning which are typically pretty seamless are now drawn out with "I don't want you to leave" sprinkled in.

Declan told me that he'd made a wish that we would hug every day and his wish came true. Really sweet.

Now this evening when it was bedtime we talked about how I'd see him in the morning but then I'd be gone for a couple days on a work trip. This was not well received. Tears flowed. I reminded him that I would be here in the morning when he woke up but then he said "But I want you to come home so I can hug you later day too." Ugh. So sweet but tomorrow morning is going to be hard.

So thankful for this little monkey. We are really lucky and while it is tough being away at the same time he's the motivation to keep at it every day to protect our life.