First hike of the season

Last night I came home to a minor disaster. Leo had knocked over my garbage can and strewed trash across the living room.

It was gross. And besides the  normal food mess, there was kids paint all over the floor and on the dog.

I was annoyed, but I couldn't say I blamed him. He has been a little neglected the last couple days, missing out on his nice long walks and playing in the sunshine with us.

So this morning I decided to take Leo and the boys on a hike. I've never taken them on a hike by myself, so I picked a trail I knew we could handle - Cress Creek by Heise Hot Springs.

Soren whined about having to go until I mentioned we would see some cool bugs and maybe even a snake. After that I couldn't move fast enough for him.

"Can we leave yet? Are you ready? What is taking so long?" He nagged me the entire time I was making PB sandwiches, filling water bottles and grabbing sweaters and hats. And he kept asking me if the snakes we saw would be poisonous and if he could hold them. No - they will be gardener snakes. Yes, you can hold them (Oops - turns out Heise also has rattle snakes, according to their trail head).

I said a silent prayer asking for us to please see a snake - just one little gardener snake. I knew I'd be in trouble if he didn't see one.



Well, we didn't. But it turned out okay because we were hiking up a CLIFF - which is what my boys thought, anyway. I guess that is cool for them. And we saw DRAGON FLIES! And there was DIRT to play in and slide down.

Lucas ran up the trail, all the way to Cress Creek (which is about a 1/4 mile). Then we took off our shoes and waded in the water. They could have stayed there all afternoon. They splashed around, hopped back and forth across the creek, floated toys downstream, etc...



Soren even tried some of the Cress leaves - which according to my friend Jamie are edible. I hope she's right because we ate a bunch and picked some for a salad tonight. I couldn't believe he liked them. He's always refused salad and any form of lettuce. I guess it was cool because we picked it from a creek.



We ate our pb sandwiches in the shade of a tree. It was so peaceful, I wish I had brought a book or colored pencils. The boys could have played there all day. But eventually Lucas got tired (remember the running up the trail?) We through a couple more rocks and headed back down - Lucas ran the whole way.



They crashed on the drive home, my favorite part about driving places with them these days. Leo and I took the long way and discovered some fun Idaho randomness. I love finding old farmhouses around here.



One of my favorite places to look for old houses is by Ashton, Id. That is too far of a drive for me with kids, so I was excited to find some a little closer.

Next time, I think we will be a little braver and venture to some trails around Palisades and Swan Valley. If anyone knows of any good family hikes, please share!