Poconos!

We may have had a little TOO much fun this weekend. It is Monday morning, and Lily did not make it to school today...she had issues last week, which I didn't write about in hopes not to jinx it. But after our weekend, she woke up in such a horrific mood, I couldn't send her to school today. Andrew is covered in hives...well, his belly and thighs are covered...and he is grouchy and clumsy and out of sorts. Michael is already down for his morning nap...and he hasn't taken a morning nap in about 3 weeks. Andrew has no school today...for which I am alternately grateful and disappointed.

-sigh- It's going to be a long day.

But it is our fault (although Jeff doesn't have to live with the fallout today...hmmm). Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early (as usual), and headed off to the delightful little mountain chain just north of us, the Poconos. Jeff had scoped out 2 parks with possibilities...one with better mountain views and vistas and the other with playgrounds and shorter hikes. Since this was our first foray into the area, and since we were taking a 1 year old, 3 year old, and 6 year old (almost)...guess which one we choose.

The kids did AWESOME. The park was beautiful, but it wasn't really "mountainous". We could have probably driven 15-20 minutes and found a similarly beautiful park. But the kids were great and enjoyed themselves, so the 90 minute drive there and back was a bit less painful. But it WORE US OUT. Next time we are totally going to the other park. Now that we know how good the kids can be.

We didn't really know where to start...unfortunately we started at a beach. In the woods. Weird. And Michael and Lily DESPERATELY wanted to go swimming. Did I mention it was 52 degrees and windy?

Jeff...trying to hold back the restless toddlers while I happily snap pictures. Perhaps I deserve dealing with the fallout from this weekend?
Lily bundled up. By the lake it was really cold and windy...she peeled off her layers later on.

Oh, the caterpillars. We walked through this little picnic area/field place, and saw half a dozen black and white caterpillars crawling around. After picking up one with a stick and putting it on this stump, we decided it didn't have any spines or prickly things and let the kids play with it.

Upon coming home, we went on the Internet to find out more about our caterpillar friends. Turns out the hickory tussock moth can cause an allergic reaction in many people. Too bad Michael actually kissed it at one point, Andrew had it crawling on his face, and Lily carried it around for a while. Good parenting.

Lily making silly faces during our picnic. My kids like picnics so much that they insist upon having it the moment we get to the park. I had hoped to break up the hike a bit with a picnic...but nooooooo. Must. Open. Lunch. NOW!

Michael also loves picnics. And isn't he cute in his little coat?

Andrew climbed a little tree. We think this may be what caused the hives. I know the caterpillar is the obvious...but he doesn't have any hives where those critters crawled on him. But we think his shirt could have ridden up while climbing this and maybe he is allergic to the tree. ? Jeff tells me he was allergic when he was a kid. Whatever.

For the hike, Michael cooperated and rode in the backpack. My hair band had broken, so I look a bit like a hippy...a greasy hippy. All day, my hair drove me crazy. Once we were back home that night, I realized that I had put an extra one around my wrist. Which I neglected to discover...obviously. Jeff had better start looking into homes for me.

Part of our trail. Andrew LOVED it. He followed those orange diamonds and hopped from rock to rock, and pointed out ferns...and just generally enjoyed himself.

Purple mushrooms. We did NOT let the kids play with these. See? We aren't THAT bad.

Lily walked an amazing amount of this hike. She didn't even trip that much. Just happily pointing out trees and singing the They Might Be Giants song, "C is for conifer." So cute.

So that was Saturday. Wiped us all out.

Then Sunday we went to church in the morning (oh, yes...that's right...went to church...more on that later). Got home and ate a quick lunch. Andrew went to soccer...in the rain...only 5 kids on his team showed up so he had to play the entire hour. Michael slept for about 45 minutes, Lily not at all. Then we drove 45 minutes to Jeff's cousins house to visit with them and his aunt Dottie who was visiting. We all had a great time visiting, Cousin Elle had crafts and cookies to decorate and Cousin Lily shared her toys really really well (Lily is Lily's age too...a bit confusing...but my Lily thinks it is really cool). Had a hard time leaving because we were having such a good time and ended up not getting home until 8:30...2 hours past Mike's bed time and 1 1/2 hours past Lily's.

Wake up this morning same time as usual. Begin day of punishment.

I still think it will be worth it. We're already planning the next several weekends...