If you’ve been reading here for any length of time, you know that I love winter! And I love snow! And as much as I’d love there to be more snow on the ground and weather cold enough for us to have to wear coats and gloves, I’ll never pass up a beautiful day for a hike.
Dude and Princess are always on the go - playing, running around with friends, whatever - but sometimes they just need to get out and explore with the family. So, I loaded up the kids and dog on Sunday and we went hiking in one of our favorite spots. It was BEAUTIFUL! There was a little snow, which made it feel a little bit like winter at least . . .
It was actually really icy hiking down into the canyon, but we all made it safely. Duma is so good that we just hook up her long lead and don’t even hold onto it. I guess it’s my stupid way of cheating . . . dogs must be leashed, but who wants to hold onto a 1 year old lab puppy while they drag you down an icy hill? She never goes far away and always comes when you call her. (Oh, and to the lady who gave me the evil eye for letting her run in the water without a leash on . . . boo hoo to you! I guess you didn’t see the 4 BAGS of dog poo that were in my backpack that I picked up that OTHER PEOPLE left! So lay off my well-trained dog that didn’t even come close to you and whose poop I actually pick up!).
Back to the hike . . . Dude is ALWAYS in the lead, with Duma right behind him. They love this little bridge at the bottom of the entrance to the canyon. Yes, that is my intelligent dog who managed to get herself wrapped up and stuck on the bridge 
At least she was smart enough to not jump and strangle herself!
And here’s Mr. Rock Jumper out in the middle of what is usually the creek. He was so proud of himself!
After I took this picture, I instructed him to come back immediately WITHOUT stepping on the snow! “But why can’t I step on the snow?” he says as he JUMPS off the rock onto the snow. UGH! Um, how about because there is RUNNING WATER under that snow, which is covering only a thin sheet of ice, and which won’t hold you! He did come back, and gave me a look like “you’re such a prude” . . . until I explained what happens when you fall through ice into really cold ICY water, and what happens if you happen to fall in one of the many spots that is over your head. He didn’t think drowing or hypothermia sounded like too good of an idea, so he stayed away from the snow and ice by the water. The dog? Not so much. She thought it was fun to run all over the snow and not listen to me to come back (OK, so she doesn’t ALWAYS listen!) . . . UNTIL . . . she fell through. Yup - the ice cracked out from under her feet and she fell in. Only up to her waist, she kept her front paws on the ice and got out. But she learned a lesson! She also realized the water wasn’t that cold and spent her day splashing around in the FREEZING cold water of the creek. She had a blast! At least she was tired when we got home.
Princess found this fun little cave with a really smooth rock just her size to rest in while eating a snack. Looks like a great place for a snack to me! She also informed me that it would be a great place for all of us to go if it ever started raining and lightening while we were hiking. That’s my Princess! Always thinking 
2 1/2 miles and a couple hours later (yes, it takes a while to hike when you explore every cave and rock imaginable) we were back at the car, ready to head home. But WAIT! Hey Mom, I haven’t played with Travis for a long time and we’re driving right by his house! Can Travis and Connor come over to play?
Why not! So we picked up a couple extra kids for a few hours and they all had a blast. There were two tired kids and one lab who was too pooped to pup at the end of the day
A great day for sure. How about you? Good weekend?
Sounds like you had a great time. You are a wonderful mom to expose your children to so many adventures.
[...] Yesterday you read about our fun hike and day with friends. [...]
Looks like everyone had a great time hiking. I am so envious!!! Love…Mom