Hidden Falls Hike with the Cub Scouts

I would like to start this by saying that this was the FIRST hike me or the kids have ever been on.  Sure, we have taken walks and explored in places like San Francisco and Monterey, but we have never been on an actual hike.  After seeing friends' pictures and hearing so much about hiking at Hidden Falls, I have been wanting to go.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tag along when I heard that our cub scouts would be taking a field trip to Hidden Falls.  I asked the girls if they were interested in going and they were totally up for it.  Grant decided to invite his friend Micah and so we all went in our van together.  We packed water, snacks and anything else we thought we might need.  It took about a half hour to get to Hidden Falls....back roads out of Lincoln that took you up to Auburn.  It was easy to find and we met the other leaders and cub scouts in the parking lot there.  I'm going to be honest, I had no idea what to expect.  I was nervous about the difficulty.  I was nervous about there not being bathrooms. I was nervous about bugs.  I was nervous about the weather being too cold.  I was nervous about falling.  So much anxiety.  hahhah!  The other leaders were teasing me when they found out I had never been on a hike before.

The boys gathered any walking stick they could find and we set off on what was considered an easy trail.  We went on the gravel path (there was a concrete one too) with a goal of getting to the actual water falls.  The hike was mostly downhill, not difficult at all.  The biggest challenge at this point was keeping the boys within our vision.  They had a tendency to want to run ahead of us.  I was walking at a pretty good clip, but apparently not as fast as they wanted to go.  I found myself constantly saying, "boys, its a hike, not a run! or boys, hold up, I can't see you!"  The other leaders were all far behind me at that point.  One of the dads was keeping up with me and the runaway boys.  He was leading us since he had been there before.  When we got to this little path, he told me that we should go down there so that we could go to the falls overlook.  This was the first time on the hike that I could feel my anxiety level rise.  The path was narrow and rocky which made it important that you watch and place your foot carefully with each step.  Morgan was super nervous and I was nervous for her and I.  Although I was in running shoes, I felt like I didn't have much traction and could easily slip.  Grant was in his Samba tennis shoes and those were definitely lacking any grip.  We made it down safely and it was totally worth all the stress.  The view was breathtaking.  The falls gorgeous.  The water rushing rapidly.  The smell of fresh water was amazing.  I couldn't take my eyes of the beauty that surrounded me.  We stayed on that large platform overlook for quite awhile.  The boys sat and at their snacks and we took lots of pictures.  After awhile there, Mr. Drumright said that we should venture down further to an area of water where the boys could play in.  That path was even more stressful than the other.  Rock steps that were steep and narrow.  The possibility of random dogs made Morgan especially weary.  She wanted to hold my hand, yet it wasn't really safe to walk side by side.  Single file was a must on such narrow areas.  Surprisingly, Loren did amazing.  She wasn't even nervous like me and Morgan.  Grant and Micah were always somewhere ahead of us and I found myself in constant prayer hoping they were ok.  I felt immediate relief when we got to the bottom...but that was only temporary.   Boys started taking off their shirts and going for a swim.  Some even brought swimming suits to change into.  Grant and Micah took off their socks and shoes and contemplated wading in to the water, but that was short lived.  The water was cold and rocky.  They put their shoes back on and really wanted to climb all the rocks around there.  It was so nerve wracking to be there.  It was getting very crowded and people were even bringing unleashed dogs around.  I had to keep telling Grant to get down and not climb the rocks.  We were definitely not dressed for rock climbing.  At one point, he actually slipped down a rock, scraping the back of his arm only to finally come to rest at the bottom on his bum.  I thought that would've scared him, but it didn't.  He kept trying to climb.  Despite my warning of poison oak all around and not having appropriate climbing gear, he kept trying to climb around.  His friend wasn't much help as he kept trying to get him to do it too.  It was so stressful.  I'm sure I ruined his fun all around.  At that point, I honestly wished Grant had chosen to swim instead of rock climb.  There were a bunch of boys in the freezing cold water, and they were having so much fun.  I couldn't imagine getting in that water on that day, but I totally want to come back during the summer when it's warm and a dip in the freezing cold water would be refreshing.

I was so grateful when they gave the boys a five minute warning and we were ready to hike back.  I was looking forward to getting off the small, narrow, rocky paths and heading back to safer trails.  The boys started heading back at a rather quick pace, but it didn't last too long.  We hit the uphill part of the trails and they finally decided to walk more leisurely.  Cade Christopherson had hiked for quite a bit, but was getting tired.  Sister Caldwell gave her jogging stroller up (carried her 1 year old) and Cade hopped in the stroller to be pushed.  His mom was a trooper pushing him along. When I came up next to her, I asked her if I could take a turn and help.  She gladly accepted my offer and for the next 10-15 minutes, we took turns pushing her 72 lb son in the stroller uphill.  Cade has brittle bone disease and walking long distances is hard and painful for him.  We got our workout that day.  Rochelle and I came back a sweaty mess.   We were grateful for the other guys on the trip who also took a turn helping to push Cade in the stroller.

After about a 3.5 miles (about 10,000 steps on my FITBIT), we made it back from our hike.  I would say it was a success.  All the kids had a great time and I'm excited to take Chris back there once tax season is over.

What I learned on my very first hike EVER...
1. Boys will try to climb rocks even though you tell them not to
2. Sambas and running shoes don't make the best hiking shoes
3. Boys can make walking sticks out of anything
4. Young boys run ahead in the downhill part of the hike and lag behind when it's uphill
5. Pushing a good friends 72 lb son in a stroller uphill is one heck of a workout
6. Having an anxious mom on your hike might spoil some of the fun you would've otherwise had.
7. Hidden falls is a gem and I am so glad I was brave and tried something new and outside my comfort zone

 

 

 

Morgan's Spring Break Party

I completely dropped the ball on this one...at least initially.  St. Patrick's day came so quickly, then spring break to follow and it slipped my mind that we needed to throw a class spring/easter party BEFORE the kids left for Spring break.  I got an email from her teacher late Monday night asking me if  I could throw something together for that week.  Without hesitation, I said, "of course!"  I had to get it all together in a matter of a few days.  I decided to do stations and have the kids rotate through them.  I like having the smaller groups for some projects.  I had Easter BINGO already printed from years ago and planned to use it.  I found a fun egg paper wreath to do, some fun pinwheels, a butterfly lollipop craft and then the BINGO game.  We had each child bring at least a dozen stuffed eggs and we had a fun class egg hunt at the end of the party.  My friend, Emily, bagged up bunny cheese crackers and put carrots in easter eggs for a snack.  The party was a success.  The kids had a wonderful time.  I love being in Morgan's class and planning these activities.  Before too long, she will be older and they won't have such fun little activities in the classroom.

Scouting for Food

Ever since Grant became a Cub Scout, we have been involved in the Scouting For Food Program in March.  Each Cub Scout Pack and Boy Scout Troop team up and canvas the local neighborhoods seeking non-perishable food items for donation.  The donations are given to our local food bank, the Salt Mine.  We always have great success.  It's a wonderful service project and the neighbors are always generous.  This year, we had 8 adult leaders, 11 boy scouts and 10 cub scouts participate and they collected 550 food items in an hour and a half. So awesome.  Those items will be such a blessing to those in our community who are in need.

End of Season Basketball Party

  

Coach Shouse hosted an end of the season Basketball Party at his home.  They had pizza and dessert and we enjoyed visiting and hanging out with basketball friends. The Blaze had an awesome season and ended with only one loss.  They finished first in their age group.  Impressive for a team of newbies. I think the Coach's daughter, Taya, is the only one who had played previously.  Morgan was excited to get her very first basketball trophy.  Coach made some wonderful remarks about Morgan. Morgan learned and grew so much as a player this year.  She is looking forward to playing Hot Shots basketball on a team with her same coach and many of the same girls.  That will be starting soon!  Way to go, Morgan! We are so proud of you!

Geronimo Stilton

Loren came home the other day very excited about a new series of books the she was excited to read. Since finishing the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series, she has struggled to find something that she was interested in reading.  A bunch of people in our class have been reading these little chapter books by Geronimo Stilton,  Loren decided to try them as well and she's been hooked.  She finished one that afternoon and even started a second one.  Since then, her friend Tessa and her have been trading Geronimo Stilton books and Tessa's mom and I have been keeping our eyes out at both the used book store and thrift stores.  There's a ton of books so hopefully this will keep her busy until she meets her AR goal this trimester.  Yay for reading! Double Yay for reading something you love!

Video Game Mommy

It was a quiet Saturday morning and the girls were off to a birthday party together.  I had promised Grant some one-on-one time and I wasn't surprised when he asked me to play video games with him. Admittedly, this is not my strong suit and it's not for lack of effort.   I miss the video games of old like Frogger, Pacman and Burgertime...the two dimensional games that were easy to master.  The games these days are a whole different thing.  Gone are the days of the Atari! Now we have a PS4 and Battlefront....an interactive star wars type game.  It's hard.  I kept trying.  I was getting frustrated, but Grant was so patient, offering help anytime he could.  Any time I would die, he would say, "it's ok mom, don't waste a life, I've got this, I'll complete the level!"  hahahaa! So cute!  All the while, I continued to play and give my best effort despite my limited capacity.  It was fun. It was fun to just be with Grant and do something that he enjoys so much.  I know he loved it and will remember that morning for a very long time.  I love one-on-one time with the kids.  It's so hard to do it, but when I do, I remember how very special and important that it is.  They crave such time.  It's a goal of mine to do more of this!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A few years ago, our friends Melinda and Staci started bringing the kids a special St Patrick's day gift...A box of lucky charms and green milk.  This year, they brought us the cereal, but skipped the milk.  Probably a smart idea as some of the kids were grossed out by the thought of drinking green milk.  The kids enjoyed their breakfast and the leprechaun left them each three gold dollar coins and some green candy!

BINGO at the Clubhouse

It's been ages since we have been to BINGO at the clubhouse.  I promised the kids that the next time they had it, I would take them to play.  Loren invited her friend Tessa and her Mom and we all sat together.  The kids feasted on snacks and soda and played several rounds of BINGO.  Loren even won BINGO at one point and was so excited.  The prize she picked was a talking stuffed animal from the new Zootopia movie.  She was excited.  We had a lot of fun with friends that evening, but the thing I want to remember from the evening is this....

There was a young girl, maybe 10 years old, who won BINGO multiple times.  On her second time winning BINGO, there was also a little girl around age 4 who also yelled BINGO.  The prize, however, was awarded the older girl because she yelled BINGO first and took her card up to the announcer.  I felt so sad for the younger girl.  I could see how heartbroken she was and she was really too young to understand that she needed to be quick once she realized she had BINGO.  I thought for sure the older girl would claim the prize and give it to the younger girl, but she didn't.  We continued to play BINGO until we were on the last prize of the night.  It was a little pair of purple fairy wings.  We kept playing even though none of my kids were really interested in the prize.  In fact, Grant would've been mortified to go up and claim his pair of fairy wings if he won, hahaha!  After a few minutes, I won BINGO.  I took Morgan up with me to claim the fairy wings and I knew Morgan didn't want or need them, so we took them straight over to the little girl who had previously won BINGO.  I told her that we knew she had won earlier and wasn't able to get a prize so we wanted her to have these fairy wings.  Her reaction is something I will never forget.  She was so excited and immediately put the fairy wings on.  Her mom was beaming from ear to ear and couldn't thank us enough.  Grant, Loren and Morgan all had the chance to make this little girl happy and we all went home feeling a little happier that day!