At 6:30 this morning when the alarm clock went off I could see the fog out my bedroom window. I knew it had rained over night, I knew the trails we were about to hike would be full of mud and the rocks we were going to climb over would be slippery and wet. I knew I was going to have to drag the kids out of bed early on a Saturday, I knew my 5 year old would be too tired to hike the whole way, I knew my husband still really wasn’t feeling well, I knew we were about to get wet and muddy . . . and I knew my friends and their families were waiting for us.
So up we all got, put on our splash pants and rain boots, packed our muffins and extra water, ignored the fog and the rain and we met our friends at 8am for a 3 hour hike in the trails. Eight adults, 11 kids. We slide, we sloshed, we jumped mud puddles and waded through new mini lakes. Every small breeze sent a shower down on us as the weeks of rain fell off the leaves high above. Kids ran ahead, kids fell behind, kids fell over!
We saw mushrooms and mud, chipmunks and birds, worms and water . . . everywhere! One thing we didn’t see, was the view. Hiking the escarpment here you get treated with breathtaking views . . . all we saw was fog.
But we walked, we talked, we laughed and a few little ones whined, but overall we made a great morning out of an otherwise soggy day.
When I looked outside at 6:30am, I didn’t feel like getting out there. I had lots of reasons to stay in bed. But I knew there were memories to be made out there. Things to experience out there. Fun to be had out there.
Many times my motivation for all the work I know its going to take to get somewhere, is the memories that are going to be made on the way there and once we get there. My kids are going to remember hiking in the mud and looking out over the cliffs at the fog and they are going to remember the friends we were with and the family time we had . . . even if they complained the ENTIRE hike back. . . I know they will remember this morning!
Despite the weather, the time, the fog and the excuses; getting outside and living your day is guaranteed to make some memories. Hope you enjoyed your day today!