Sunday Walk Update

I decided it would be a good thing to take walks on Sunday in the woods with the grandchildren. I was hoping it would help them appreciate all the awesome things God has made: trees, flowers, moss, creeks, etc. A month or so ago, I first approached the children with my idea. It was a hard sell, but I convinced Jake and Bentley to go on a short walk with us. We drove a couple of blocks to where there is easy access to acres of unspoiled woods with trails. (Our backyard has access to acres of swampland, but it's not easy walking in it!) 

We parked, we walked a short distance, we found a stream, the boys played in the stream and Mark took photos. Mark and I walked a little further until we found some trails, but they weren't open because they were too muddy. We decided to keep our first walk short and we returned to the boys at the stream. (They were in our line of sight the entire time we were gone.)

A couple of Sundays later I convinced all three children to go back to the same trail. Viva wanted to come once she heard there was a stream. We took a few photos at the stream. 

Viva fell into the stream--a loud cracking noise startled Jake and Viva and they lost their precarious balance. Bentley said he didn't hear the noise. I did! Jake was holding my hand still. (Mark photoshopped my hand out for a more dramatic photo.) Bentley had more stable footing where he was on the log, but poor Viva was in the middle using her brothers as anchors. She landed on her feet in the stream, but she was still quite upset, but just for a short time. 

We continued on our walk. Bentley was very unhappy with us. He didn't want to go on the trail in the woods because he didn't want to get dirty--he had sandals on and was afraid his feet would get muddy. (On our Girdwood adventure last week he had no such objections, so he's not always difficult!) We ignored his portests and walked in the woods. I'm not sure if he'll agree to go on our next Sunday walk. *sigh* Maybe Sunday walks with the Grandparents are not meant to be?