Day-Trippers

...or, if I were precise, Afternoon and Evening Trippers.

John's pretty great at pulling things out of his proverbial hat, which sometimes results in last-minute trips to the park and a pit-stop at Walmart for HAM SANDWICH FIXIN'S.  (Can you tell deli meat's cause for celebration around here?)

After depositing us in the parking lot, John left to run the length of the trail, with plans to meet us back at the waterfall in a few hours.

Not only was Cadence unimpressed with the ham, she was ready for a nap.

Truth be told, all it took was putting Cadence into the carrier to convince me that I was also ready for a nap.  Lump-on-a-log.

The children and I wanted to explore a bit before we went back to the waterfall, but before the trail evens out into moderate hills and dips, it begins with a slew of stairs and a Very Steep Hill. Millie took this picture of me lugging myself forward, in desperate need of oxygen, with a baby on my back who soon began mimicking my audible huffing (which made me laugh, and I didn't have enough oxygen to spare for laughter!).  Lucinda scorned my travail.

Ahhhh.  A flat stretch.

Our destination was not the trail's end but a side route to re-visit the stream and swimming holes we've enjoyed in the past.

We never seem to make it much beyond the second curve of the stream because there's so much to enjoy in a relatively short stretch.

The secret swimming holes appear out of nowhere, with shallow shelves dropping into chest-deep pools without much warning.

I was figuring out the easiest route up the rocks when I glanced up and saw Aidan dancing around a spider at eye-level.

Annika discovered that the slow current moved her gently down the stream, and soon enough,

merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, all the girls joined in.

We would have stayed longer, but we had to rush back down the trail to make the appointed meeting with John by the falls.

We lucked out, too, because rain cleared out the swimming area for us before the sun came out again.

I stayed in the shallows with this (newly!) water-loving girl,

while they jumped off the diving board and walked the falls with John.

I think this is one of our favorite places.  Then we stopped at the library, which is another favorite place.  Finally, we got home at bedtime, the Most Favorite Place of All.