Silver Falls Hike

I told the kids that Saturday we would go hiking after the basketball game. That was followed up by emotions ranging from "how long is the hike?" to "Mom, I don't really like hiking" to a complete emotional meltdown that it would hurt their legs too much. The weather also wasn't super favorable but I decided it was time to persevere and make my kids go. Of course I'm not going to "force" them but they got to pick their lunches and snacks. When the basketball game was cancelled I danced for joy and we headed out.

Family outside & happy = super happy mom

Amazingly the drive there was lot of laughter and easy conversation and once we got there everyone got their backpacks on. The kids were expecting about 3 miles.
We headed out on the Rim Trail first, which is the least exciting start, and a mile in KK was telling me this wasn't like a real hike because it was fun. What made it fun was little things like letting them throw snowballs, playing tie fighter games, looking at the moss growth and just being together as a family.

Finding secret trails

Imagine their delight when we got to the waterfalls and got to walk behind some of the water falls. There were also lots of side trails and any time someone asked "can we look there" my answer would be yes (unless it said "Danger" or appeared like it would cause erosion damage). Kellan found some secret trails and was delighted.

Walking behind a waterfall

We spent about 30 minutes climbing the giant fallen tree. Again, if the kids are enjoying the exploration, my answer is yes. Once we got home Emmett was inspired enough to try and build a waterfall in the creek behind our house. That may have been the most heart warming moment for me.
All said and done they hiked close to 6 miles. When I asked them what they thought they had done they guessed about 3 - 4 miles.

Needless to say they've earned their dessert and we are off to get ice cream!