So it’s been a month. Does that make me a bad blogger? Don’t answer that question.
We’ve been battling sickness lately so we’ve been somewhat of a resemblance of street bums lately. If it’s not one of us sick, its the other. If it’s not the other, it’s one of us. If it’s not one of us, well… you get the picture. I think we’re doing better now (knock on wood, thank the Lord up in heaven) so I’m giving the family copious amounts of elderberry tea (homemade, which I have to bribe them to drink) in hopes that sickness stays away.
If you want to know how most of our weekends are spent, let me let you in on a little secret… we typically have no plans at all. None. Noooooope. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Not only because we are losers with practically no friends (truth hurts, right?), but also because we’re typically just gone with the wind to wherever it takes us. But all that will change one day when I develop a personality that people are attracted to like months to the flame. It’s gonna happen any day now, new friends will be busting down our doors, you’ll see.
(And I wonder why I have scant few friends).
Just a couple of weeks ago it was a fairly decent weekend here in Juneau. By that, I mean that it was raining just a little, the sun was really trying its best to shine and it was above 40. So we did the only thing we know how to do well…. tear the children away from the weekend TV watching and throw them (figuratively of course) into the truck for a little hike.
We thought, “what better way for us to get some great exercise than to take their bikes along so they can ride while we walk?” And how about taking the dog too, for some icing on that cake? Yeah? Yeah! So off we go with our brilliant ideas and dreams of incredible family hikes, dog and bikes in tow.
We find a little trail we’ve been wanting to try and proceed to get everything out of the truck and everyone suited up in coats, baby in her K’tan wrap on me, dog in her harness (beagles are notoriously disobedient) and kids on bikes. All is well with the world, yes? About 10 yards into it, Declan proclaims that he doesn’t want his bike and wants to go home. Say whaaaaa? We just got here! We’re not going home. Can we stash the bike in the bushes? Nope, don’t want someone to come along and claim it for their very own (since Wal-mart bikes are creme-de-la-creme). So I try to push the bike part of the way. But that’s just not working for me. See, I’m getting old and can’t do the things I used to do many years ago in my early 20’s (cough cough).
5 yards into pushing a bike, trying to hold a 4 year old’s hand, keeping my newborn satiated in her wrap AND holding the dog’s leash, I decide that since this IS Alaska and there are sled dogs all around, it’s high time Dixie earns her keep as part of this family. I saddle her up to Declan’s bike so he can walk and she can drive. We go about another 10 yards and Max falls off his bike.
But lucky for us, Max is a trooper and gets right back up and treks on, because “Determination” is his middle name. (Just kidding… Max is his middle name.) We go about another 20 yards, and if you look closely at the top of the road, you can see that there is a patch of ice that covers the entire road. Now, I’m generally up for all sorts of adventures. But 100 yards of ice walking with a baby strapped to my chest, a dog who thinks she’s of the sledding variety and a kid who REALLY DOESN’T want to be here, I decide I’d had enough.
Thank God for husbands who share in this burden we call “attempted family hikes.” Declan did not want to walk back to the truck he didn’t want to leave in the first place. But somehow I convinced him to walk back. Somehow. It’s all a blur, honestly.
Which brings us back to the first picture. Which is how many/most of our hikes usually end up. One or all kids crying. Mom too tired to care. Dad frustrated. Dog giddy as a fat kid in a candy castle.
So what did we do after our 50 yard attempted hike? We drive up the road a couple of miles to do it again…. only without bikes. But this time it’s much colder because the wind is blowing and there’s a large body of water nearby.
I bribe the kids with snacks and drinks and we head off again. Only to make it another 200 yards or so and me to decide it’s too windy and the baby and I are too hungry to go on. So we head back again. But really, you can’t beat those views. And this is how most of our family weekends end. What about you?
(Who wants to invite us to go hiking with them?)