To the Top!

On Sunday my mom finally decided to give the kids back to me. I think they had finally worn her out. Either that or they ate all her food. Probably both. Along with other things that she won't tell me about for fear that I would actually PUNISH them for what they did. (How could I dare?) So after church I drove to Multnomah Falls to meet them. That's about halfway between her house and ours and it makes a good meeting place. We used to have a tradition of hiking to the top every summer, but we haven't done it in a few years. We always seem to be in such a hurry when we're traveling that we don't want to stop. But I thought that this would be a good time for the kids to spend some energy before getting back into the car for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. They did so well with little to no complaining. It's only about a mile, but it is uphill the whole way with several switchbacks. Jantzen was really excited to get home to be reunited with our dog so she wasn't too excited about taking the time to hike, but I stashed a few candy bars in my backpack and told her that people who don't whine get candy at the top. It worked like a charm, and no, I'm not above bribery. She ended up loving it in the end, which is usually how it goes with my kids. They don't want to try something new but when they do they're always glad that they did. Such has been the case with snowskiing, innertubing, roller coasters and now hiking.

Carson and Jantzen wanted me to take their picture with their candy bars. I guess they really loved them?!

This is our "more bars in more places" picture. Cute, huh?It was a race against the clock because the sun was going down, but we made it just in time. This picture was taken at the top, just as the sun was going behind the mountains. I love the way the colors look. We hurried down and got to the car at 9:30. Then we made the long trip home, arriving home at about midnight. I'm still wondering why the lines on the road were so wavy.