Recently, the boys have been asking why we have not gone hiking.  We told them yesterday that we had today free and they suggested to take a hike.  So we packed up and headed out to a local park at 10am this morning.  Logan told us that both he and Connor were soldiers and I was the scientist, and we were all exploring.  We took our usual route, up the big boulder for a peek and then climbed the steps up the small hill.  Not long ago, Connor still needed assistance from us to climb those big steps, but this time he walked up all by himself.  He was pleased to be a big boy now.  We continued to hike through the park to our destination, the playground.  We took a snack there first before the boys hit the structures.  After playing for some time, we then headed back to the hiking trails.  Logan wanted to play a game while we walked, so I had him imagine the clock time markings around him and shoot at the hour that I commanded (like fighter pilots do).  He learned quickly and enjoyed following my commands, and we played all the way back to our car.  This was a short hike, only 1 mile, and the kids walk slow, but it is one of our favorite local workouts.

 
    We made plans to barbeque tonight and the kids were happy with the idea.   They were playing on their own most of the time while we prepared the food.  Later they were proud to show us their invention, a sketchy looking shooting station.  We decided to dine in the backyard after Logan’s repeated requests and he was so excited.  We enjoyed a good meal then the kids returned to play some more before they all cleaned up for the night.

     A couple of things from today worth mentioning.  While Connor and I enjoyed an extra long nap, Logan requested to play “the real game”, ie. Risk, again.  According to Stuart, Logan really enjoyed it and had gotten the hang of it. Toward the end of their game, Stuart reported that there was a loud noise outside.  He went out to check, and it turned out to be a careless driver smashing into our neighbor’s parked car on the street and pushing it down a couple of houses onto a lawn.  No one was hurt, but Stuart ended up staying out there for an hour to accompany our neighbor.  The boys were fascinated by watching the actions and the emergency vehicles through our second floor window.