Virginia: Prince William Forest Park

Saturday we had big plans - float the Potomac and then hike. In the end, it became clear that we Kringels were taking so long getting ready that we weren't going to have time for both activities. We nixed the river and went for a hike in Prince William Forest Park.

Jim and I are passionately in love with forests of deciduous trees. We were so happy as we drove through the forest to the trailhead. My car pic didn't capture the magic.

While we got organized and sunscreened up, the littles went straight for the muddy area and got filthy. I love them together, though.

A lot of the hike was spent looking for the perfect walking stick.

There was a long delay early on because Ever was having some belly issues (it's unfortunate when that happens in the great outdoors), and then Wren needed to go to the bathroom but couldn't manage to go. (She gets stage fright outside.)

Once we were on our way again, there was a little running.

When we got to the water, we hung out for a bit and ate.

The girls wanted to touch the water, and things got difficult for Jim.

The Homers plus Missy:

The Kringels, with Coco subbing in for me (Bear Bear's face!):

As we headed back, we saw a tree trunk (or two?) that had fallen across the river and created a balance beam. Just beyond that one was another one. Jim had to take Ever across both. They crossed one tree trunk to the far side of the river and then came back via the other tree trunk.

On the way out, Jim and I could not stop exclaiming over the beauty. It was determined that Dustin likes hikes with vistas  (and hence thinks hiking in the East is unimpressive), while Jim likes hiking in trees. 

Jim and Ever set a world record for slowest hiking on the way out that day. It was really something to behold. Coco, Dustin, and I were going slow, but it seemed physically impossible to go slow enough to keep Jim and Ever in view, even with periodic stops. The rest of us got to the fork at the top and waited and waited until Jim and Ever caught up. When they finally arrived, we wondered what in the world was taking so long, and Jim didn't understand what the rush was. He was just letting Ever go at her snail's pace while he enjoyed the magnificent trees and the sounds of the river. 

Back at the parking lot, the littles went to bed on the boulders.

And Jim and I exclaimed some more on the drive out. So beautiful!

We stopped for food and frozen yogurt on the way home, as Jim had promised Ever a treat. Wrenzy very sweetly alternated between taking teeny tiny bites and feeding teeny tiny bites to Jim.

Tiny got frozen yogurt all over her shirt and then proudly modeled it.