saturday morning hike

we were out the door by 7:30 am...every one was up early.
even though we all stayed up late, go figure.
so, we got everyone out the door to soak up the cool, fresh air.

it was a pretty steep hike and the kids all did great.
john is really independent and has a strong desire to do it all on his own.
he sure is a confident little guy and it makes me so happy to see him succeed.

we have been taking family hikes for years, many times with little ones on our backs.
it's such a great activity for all of us to do together, just like our family bike rides.

anything that involves being outside together,
getting some exercise together,
and enjoying each other in beautiful temperatures always equals quality family time.

we are lucky enough to have some great mountains super close by.
and nani has some wonderful ones right in her neighborhood.

on the way home the kids were reminiscing about a hike we took last year.
they remembered how cold it was, we were all super bundled up.
and how we came home and made hot chocolate and watched a movie.
....and how fun it was :)
then, john couldn't stop talking about having some hot chocolate when we got home.

we were home by 8:30 a.m.
i made a big breakfast, chris mowed the lawn, kids did chores...
and we still had the whole afternoon ahead of us.
(running errands, driving kids around, and all that fun stuff)

we are looking forward to more of those hikes now that the weather is cooler.
and more of those memories for our kids.
and for us.