Road Trip- Day Two

Driving through the Adirondacks was more than half the enjoyment of our trip. I felt like we were taking the drive around town to look at Christmas lights, with the children "oooohhhh-ing" and "ahhhhhhhh-ing" in the back...and Matt pulling over every mile to let more traffic pass him. It was Heaven, to be sure. Slow, gratifying, God-praising Heaven.

Our first stop in the morning was the High Falls Gorge. I sent Matt in to the information office to check and see if there were child-friendly nature trails for the kids to explore.

Matt came out with wristbands for all of us and said we would "probably be able to do the hardest path of all, right down the side of the gorge....Isn't that exciting!?"

And I tried claiming I was going into labor, but Matt only responded that that would give us another 37 minutes before we actually had to push. At least.

Just kidding.

The beginning of the Hike of Insanity crosses over the AuSable River. The kids loved the bridge, and Matt was right: it was incredibly child-friendly. Gates and fences were EVERYWHERE! They were remarkably Tom-Boo proof.

After our excursion to the gorge, we stopped at a family restaurant and just chilled. It was perfect. The kids were perfect. The food was perfect. It was just one of those moments.

Needless to say, we had some tired babies that afternoon.

When the boys woke up, we beached it.
Matt and Joseph had blueprints and rules.

Thomas doesn't.
His plan was to make everyone feel like they were underwater. Whether we were sitting in a beach chair or building a castle...we were gonna get soaked.

Nathan's idea of a good time at the beach is to try to make everyone as uncomfortable as he is. He despises sand. So he stood there and threw sand at anyone within a three foot radius of his person.

Sarah has some serious stamina. She actually finished a pool that we set out to make for Nate.
I was so proud of Joseph. He is loving water this year. No meltdowns, no stress. He was the most enjoyable person to be around for this entire trip. Joseph is a permission seeker. He has to walk through each and every step of something that he is about to do. Just to make sure it's okay, safe, and that I know where he is and what he is doing. He kinda lost that part of himself during vacation, and I had to be extra special attentive when I discovered him walking out into the water by himself and being slightly more adventurous than normal.

That night we took a drive to Saranac Lake to watch the boats go in and out of the launch and maybe toss a line in the water.

I gave Tom the camera, to discourage him from trying to jump in the water to find a fish. Sorry about your head being cut off, Matt.
 Vertically-Challenged Boo.