Splash, Hike, and Whine

Today we joined some friends and headed to the Bullfrog Valley Park in Hershey. After admiring the beautiful pond and creek, we started in on our picnic lunch, though the kids were BEGGING to get in the creek. "PLEASE can't we go in! Why do I have to eat this plum! Please! Please! Pleeaase!!!

After wolfing down their lunches, the kids hurled themselves into the water. Lots of splashing, stone throwing, dam building and tattling ensued, as nine kids did their best to get to know the creek.

Bullfrog Valley Park is connected to another park, Shank Park, via a long and lovely paved trail. We warned them-Oh yes we did. It's a long hike to get to the next park! Lots of walking. Lots of lovely nature, but lots of walking. And There's No Crying in Hiking...they all agreed to it and we took off.

Along the trail we saw wild raspberries (none ripe enough to eat), pretty ferns, chattering birds, toppled trees galore, more raspberries (that we still couldn't eat), more ferns, birds, trees, raspberries (yeah...couldn't eat 'em), ooh poison ivy!, more trees, etc.

"Are we there yet?"

"Carry me!"

"Ooooh, this is toooo loooong. Whyyy are you making us doooo this????"

"When are we THERE?"

After hiking the 30 minutes it took, singing songs, playing the "I went on a hike and I took apples, bikes, candy..." game, and smiling through our gritted teeth, we moms finally herded the pack to the Holy Grail of Hiking: a playground! Yay!

After a quick conference, it was decided that I would hike back alone to the car (ah, blessed silence), drive to Shank Park and ferry the kids back to Bullfrog Valley Park. Yeah, we gave in.

But it was a fun day.