Going on a Hike

Saturday we decided to go for a hike in the White Mountains.

We like hiking a lot but we don't do it as much as we used to.

We used to hike quite a bit when the kids were young but somehow we got out of the habit...

maybe when the kids got into more activities

or maybe when we moved back east and Frank got his first massive case of poison ivy which caused him to swear off all outdoor activities for awhile

-yeah, that might be it-

anyway, we went for a hike!

It is the first time we've gone hiking since Frank got sick.

He is doing really well these days

working full time

traveling for work

doing most of the normal things around the house

eating pretty well

but lets just say, its a good thing we didn't get all aggressive when we chose the hike.

He discovered pretty quickly that he is not in the condition he was once in

(yes, we know this...but somehow we humans forget so easily)
The hike wasn't long but it was pretty much all uphill.

We went with another family whose company we enjoy and who have a teenage boy too.

There's much more of a chance that Carter will enjoy himself if we bring a friend along.

He gets so tired of all the one-on-one with the parents.

Here we are starting off, fresh as daisies.

The teenagers took off pretty quickly but they were nice enough to stop occasionally and wait for us.

We enjoyed the scenery and walked along at our leisurely pace and caught occasional glimpses of the kids.

 We came across a really lovely pond and water fall.
It made me wish I had brought a swimming suit!
(or at least a towel to dry my feet so I could wade a bit)

I was the only one who walked down to the water.  So I took this picture of everyone else up above.

They took one of me down below but its really blurry...

I can't resist mushrooms when I see them in nature.
I always want to take pictures of them.
When I commented on how much I love mushrooms,
Frank said that he just wished I loved to cook and eat them! haaa

The views were gorgeous.
The weather was nice.
Cool-ish but very humid.
We weren't too hot but we were all sweating like crazy.
So that was kind of gross.
Diane and I had a nice discussion about how gross sweat is.
haaa!

 This was our amazing view from the top!

We sat and had our lunch and just relaxed.

We also attempted to take some pictures....for some reason I always think I'll get the perfect Christmas card shot at moments like this but I forget that:
1. My kids hate to have their pictures taken
2. We are all a bunch of goofballs
3. We are all sweaty and not looking our best

Oh well, I try!

As we started to head back down the mountain, it began to rain.
and rain it did.
We were soaked!
I had my rain jacket but Frank, in a moment of optimism, left his in the car.

It didn't matter much because even those of us with jackets or ponchos were drenched by the time we got to the bottom.
It just added to the fun though!

At the bottom we looked back and there was this amazing view of fog rolling over the whole area.
It was hard to catch with our phone cameras.
But it was beautiful!

A successful day!