Blisters

Sometimes I think I'm in pretty decent shape. Then an "adventure" comes along to prove I am truly a couch potato! My dear friend gave me a ring to see if we wanted to go on a hike to the hundred acre wood near Jamestown Community College. Since I'm always a fan of getting the kids into the great outdoors (and let's face it, I was excited to talk to a grown-up!), I became giddy and told her that we would absolutely come along.

The walk was supposedly 3/4 of a mile. I'm rather convinced that it was more like 10 miles, though mapquest tells me I'm exaggerating a little. Perhaps it was traversing rough terrain (hey, those uplifts in the Jamestown sidewalks are HUGE, people) and hiking up hills that wore me out. Or the fact that I rarely get true exercise- take your pick.

The walk went through the woods near Roger Tory Peterson Institute, and the kids loved climbing some pines. Matt had a little trouble getting up into the tree, but with a little boost he did just fine.

The 100 acre woods (also known as the 100 acre lot, or College Park) has a wonderful creek running through it. It also has a group of unemployed drunk men in their 40's, so we veered way to the other side of the park and stayed away from their little gathering. The kids ate some PB&J, ate granola bars, then scrambled down to the creek as fast as their short legs would carry them.

Really, there is no need to have expensive playground equipment when nature supplies all the fun. There were minnows in the water, rocks, sticks, and plenty of deep places where little boys can give their mothers heart attacks.

The kids played for hours and it was so nice to be in the sun. We hiked back to my friend's house, and found the creek and sun had definitely worn out two very small boys. I also developed two rather unfriendly blisters from wet feet in old shoes. This means one of two things: I need to get in shape, or I need to buy new shoes. You can guess which one I'm going for...

We will definitely be going back sometime soon. The creek was wonderfully refreshing, not too cold, and shallow enough for a three year old to have complete freedom in play.