This will not be too elegant, but we had such a nice day yesterday I wanted to get down some highlights:

We left around 9 a.m. for Shenandoah National Park, which is what R wanted to do for his birthday. He’s been there twice this summer (once by himself between jobs, once with the kids, though J turned out to be sick when they got there) but this was the first time with all of us. It’s a really nice drive. It’s about 2 hours which is too short to make installing the DVD players worth it. So instead we played games and told stories. Plus M gets carsick which makes the DVDs problematic. She actually rode in her booster in the front seat so she could see out. It was a beautiful day, low 80s, low humidity.

We got there in time for lunch at the lodge, where the food is “better than it has to be, and cheaper than it could be” (R’s words). The kids were really cooperative. Aside from a few cranky moments, they were stellar. After lunch we drove to Big Meadows to talk to the ranger, who recommended a hike up Stony Man Mtn. By the time we got there J was asleep, so MaDear hung out with him in the car (thank you!) while we hiked. It was perfect for C. M kept saying she was “tired” but I think she was actually bored. R was telling her the story of the tortoise and the hare, which is perfect for her because she hikes by hopping from rock to rock, balancing on boulders and stumps, etc., then saying “I’m tired!” C is definitely an example of slow and steady winning the race.

The view on the top of Stony Man is beautiful. We looked down on hawks soaring and saw huge shadows of clouds on the mountains below. The overlook is a rocky series of cliffs so I was glad J wasn’t up there. Meanwhile he had woken up and was slowly making his way up with Mom, so we saw him on the way down.

C really seems to “get” hiking. She and R climbed Lookout Mountain on vacation earlier this month, and R was impressed with her. We had left her tennis shoes at home on the trip to Montreat so we ended up buying her some actual hiking boots. Please please please let us be able to hand them down to M and then J, given the price…

After the hike we made a stop at the souvenir shop for a couple of trinkets, then started home. We told stories most of the way, which was one of my favorite parts. The kids wanted to hear all about when we were kids—were actually asking (begging) for more! more! more! I am writing this journal entry so when my kids find me uncool and boring I can remember that there was a time when they couldn’t get enough. Then I told them the stories about when each of them was born. M’s is the funniest and had them all cracking up.

As I wrote on FB yesterday, “Before I had kids, I didn’t have a lot of specific hopes for the experience, except that I wanted us to be a “storytelling family”… so I feel very happy this evening.” That about sums it up.

We’re looking forward to going back when the leaves turn!