Thursday, November 06, 2014

Beautiful Hiking Day

The girls had Monday and Tuesday of this week off for teacher workdays, and I was so glad that the weather was nice for spending some time outside.  We decided to take the opportunity to try a new hiking location at Scott’s Run Nature Preserve. 

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  The hiking part wasn’t super challenging, so Cayenne came along, and we enjoyed what was left of the fall colors as we walked along the creek that led to the Potomac River.025

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The end of the trail rewards you with a beautiful little waterfall and sandy shores for walking along the river.  We decided that would be a good place to stop for our picnic lunch and some exploring.

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Nina is a fearless little climber, and while these rocks weren’t huge, she scrambled up them with ease, crossing from one side of the waterfall to the other. 

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Lyla, on the other hand, is a bit more cautious in her climbing, so Nina volunteered to help her find good spots to access the one big rock that sits next to the waterfall.  I was waiting off to the side with Cayenne on leash, and I was kind of crouched down looking through a tree branch to keep an eye on Lyla’s status.  All of a sudden, I felt all this sand and dirt flying on my back and turned around to see Cayenne digging to China!   This is a digging dog.  Much to Mark’s dismay, Cayenne loves to dig.  While we’re trying to curb her digging in the back yard, a nature preserve is fair game I guess, so she had the time of her life digging monster holes in the loose dirt.

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With her sister’s help, Lyla did get to sit on the big rock next to the waterfall, so that was good!

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On our walk back to the car, I got probably my favorite picture of the day.  The girls were walking ahead of me a bit (as the mom, a.k.a. “the pack mule” is saddled down with all the stuff and the energetic dog), and they were holding hands and talking.  Thankfully my camera was easily accessible, and the dog held still for a fraction so I could snap a picture of this memory.  I don’t think we’ll have many years of this unsolicited hand holding left, so I’m going to enjoy it now (and remind them of it the next time they’re irritated at each other)!!

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