If there was one thing my mother taught me well, it was How to Trespass. Mom loved to hike. And she dragged me along with her, past the “No Trespassing” signs, underneath the barbed wire. No matter how unwilling a participant I was, she hauled me through the woods, cheerfully pointing out foliage, birds, and… I dunno, woodland creatures. Meanwhile, I learned how to keep a lookout in case anyone caught us in their field, barn, or on their mountain.
This weekend, I passed that knowledge onto our kids.
The fancy-shmancy subdivision behind our house actually purchased some green space between their subdivision and ours so they would never have to rub shoulders or backyards with the likes of us. Consequently, we have some great wooded area directly past our backyard. The only thing between us and a lovely fall hike was a chain link fence and the knowledge that we weren’t really supposed to wander back there. Such a thing has never stopped us before.
The kids climbed the fence and Andrew (who had already jumped the fence, thankyouverymuch) lifted them over the rest of the way.
The little boogers went up and over fearlessly. Matter of fact, on the way back, Ian scaled the fence without the help of a ladder or his daddy. Which is something I’m glad I didn’t know about until after he was waving at us from the backyard.
We didn’t walk far since Ellen and her short legs weren’t up to it, but we gathered leaves and twigs and talked about the beautiful colors. And the kids did some climbing.
They practiced their gymnastic skills.
And they fine-tuned their mountain top poses.
Bonus points to the first person who guesses what was going on in this picture.
Which reminds me of all the times my long-suffering parent tried to get me to “go” in the woods. It never worked. My aim was off. Consequently, I spent a lot of time hiking with wet shoes and a sullen expression.
Willa was more interested in removing her sock and gnawing it than the foliage.
But my Ellen very cheerfully helped collect leaves, pine straw, and acorns.
As the light faded (all too early, have I mentioned I hate the time change?), we wandered home and scaled our back fence again. We spread the pine cones, leaves, and random weeds we collected around the house and called it “decor.”
It’s always nice to end the day knowing you’ve taught your children important life lessons: fence climbing and rule breaking. We can check those off the list now.
11.10.2009
You make me proud with your trespassing skills, I didn’t know you had it in you. =o)
11.10.2009
Daylight Saving Time ended October 31st. We are in standard time now. So unless you are unhappy with DST for getting you used to an unrealistic expectation of when the sun sets then I think you dislike Standard Time. Standard Time here allows noon to occur within 30 minutes of solar noon where as in DST solar noon occurs about 1:30 pm.
By the way, great “muscle” pic with you carrying the basket home. You are the woman!
Have a great Veteran’s Day,
Michelle
11.10.2009
Michelle - Thanks for correcting me. I’ll fix that. And as for that muscle shot, I had to go back and look at the picture after you said something. It must have been the lighting. That’s ain’t normal, that’s for sure!
11.10.2009
I forgot to mention that we are keeping your family in our prayers through your adoption process.
God bless,
Michelle
11.11.2009
So when is your Vitafam camp. I’m recommending my boys as counselors. They’ll introduce the joys of fire! and creeks! and scaling trees!
11.11.2009
I’m quite sure I’ve seen that “helping your boy pee on a tree” pose before…
11.11.2009
Well!! Were you going to TELL us you were nominated for a Homeschool Blog Award??? There I was, browsing and voting for the people who TOLD ME TO - and there you were!! (I voted for you, too, of course.) Others might like to vote for you, too, you know!
And nicely done on the teaching your kids to trespass. It’s the best way to hike. Sounds like y’all had a great day!