Over the Mountain and Through the Woods ~ McLennan Moments

It's been one of those days that turned out entirely different than what I expected when I woke up. Instead of a quiet morning at home playing with the kids, we all took a looooong drive down to the Buck (a.k.a., the Boondocks, for those of you from out of the area) for a reason I can't mention at this time...never know who's reading, and it's a surprise!

Then, instead of spending the afternoon in the office formatting the women's Bible study bulletin and doing more planning for our adoption fundraiser video, I found myself packing a picnic lunch and jumping back into the car for a spontaneous family hike at Speedwell Forge.

And, finally, instead of the quick jaunt over mostly flat terrain that my wonderful husband had promised, we wound up lost (or, as Tim would say, taking a trail we didn't plan on taking, and didn't know existed until today) and spent two hours climbing up and down 3+ miles of steep embankments with our exhausted children.

Our dog Abbey, on the other hand, covered at least twice that distance with her constant racing ahead, returning to check on us, and darting in and out of the woods in pursuit of interesting scents.

By the time we got back to the car, she was ready for a swim in the adjacent pond. We heard the splash and knew instantly that we were in trouble, considering Abbey's suicidal obsession with swimming. The dog just doesn't know when to quit. A few years ago we bought her a doggie life vest, and whenever we take her to water we strap it on, tie a rope to it, and let her go until she's obviously struggling to stay above water. Then we reel her in (against her will) until she catches her breath and can stand on her own four legs again.

Today, however, we didn't have the life vest, and she wasn't on a leash. Thankfully, after enough insistent, at-the-tops-of-our-lungs, "you're in big trouble, Missy" yelling, we got her close enough to shore for Tim to drag her out. By then we was wheezing and whimpering with every breath and trembling from head to tail. Of course, as soon as we let her go she dove right back in, but we fished her out again and she's still alive. For now.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was a blur. Somehow everyone got clean from the muddy hike, I took a catnap, and the kids, in their exhaustion, made a colossal mess of the house while Tim was working outside. Upon discovery, they were made to clean up said mess, I made some pizza, and we sat down to a family movie during which Liam nearly fell asleep on my lap. The poor guy missed his quiet time on top of hiking way too many miles for his little legs! There wasn't any protesting when he and his sister fell into bed tonight. Nor will there be any from me when I follow suit after finishing this blog post.

So, all in all, it was a surprising, interesting, and fun day, in spite (or maybe because of) the drama. Tim and I were both reminded of how precious these family times are, and how we need to be more intentional about making them happen on a regular basis, no matter how busy our schedules may seem.

Here are some pics of our adventure...

Annabell and I enjoying one of the few flat portions of the hike...