Table Rock

While Buck and Jake were away, I appeased the others by telling them we'd do big kid things.  They were all very excited to go hiking, except Ellie didn't want to walk.  I figured that, so I just planned on letter her ride in the pack, which she usually doesn't get to do.  Since it was just big kids, we went a little further to Table Rock.  It was a beautiful fall day.  Although the leaves were past their peak, they were still fairly colorful.  We hiked the Carrick Creek Trail...not to the top of Table Rock.  It was wet and slippery, but lots of fun.

 Lots of slippery rock stairs and creek crossings.  Ellie enjoyed swaying back and forth and going crazy in the pack, which made keeping my balance really tough, but she was very good about sitting still when I asked her to while crossing creeks and such.

 What a find!  A huge snail out of its shell!

 Another awesome find!  It was maybe the size of a nickel or smaller.  A friend tells me it's a Crowned Slug Caterpillar, but I've decided to call it a Green Snowflake Bug.  It was absolutely beautiful!

 Grandma went with us.  One of my favorite things to do with her has always been hiking.  She always finds really cool things, and knows how to identify lots of wild flowers and such.  It's just always fun.

 At the end of the hike I pulled Ellie out of the pack so she could climb on the rocks.  She was not quite as thrilled as I was.

 There are really tempting rocks in the creek right at the start of the trail.  Ellie was already in the pack, so I suggested we not climb on the rocks until after the hike.  Turned out to be a better choice than I realized.  You can't tell it here, but Eve is soaked.  One entire leg of her pants, and most of her shirt.  While I was fighting Ellie to walk after being removed from the pack, Mom went ahead and took John and Eve to climb on the rocks.  Two minutes later we caught up and found Eve screaming in anger and wailing in tears.  Not hurt at all, just very angry to be wet.  I joked with Mom that I was glad it wasn't on my watch.  Of course earlier I had said, "We have band aids, so I'm pretty sure nobody will get hurt.  Something tells me the same logic will apply to not having dry clothes."  Anyway, she recovered quickly and enjoyed playing on the rocks some more...and riding home in her underwear.

 John was a daredevil and kept jumping from rock to rock (some quite a ways apart), despite the fact that I kept saying, "JOHN, no jumping".  (and he kept replying, "yes ma'am"...then jumping again).  Minutes later he walked up and said, "I guess I can't wear my pants in the car either.  It's OK, though.  I didn't jump."  He had a destination in mind, and since he couldn't jump, the only other option was to sacrifice the dry pants and shoes.

And this picture just made me laugh.