"take a hike"

So we are still painting our house. It hasn't exactly been the weekend project we anticipated it being. Needless to say it's coming along and we are almost done.

This morning after breakfast I told the kids they could watch cartoons on the ipad. I figured they would be stoked and I didn't even feel guilty. Saturday mornings are meant for cartoons, right? They were thrilled. I feel like we have been so busy that we haven't watched any cartoons for ages. Jeff and I went out and did some  a lot of painting. Emmett came outside too to play around and pick up the leaves that are starting to fall in the backyard. 

Time flies when you are busy painting. After more than 2 hours I checked on the kids and they were still watching Woody Wood Pecker. I couldn't believe we had been outside for that long! I told them it was time to unplug and play so they changed into their feetsie pj's and decided to "ice skate" around on our hard wood floors. Emmett came back inside to join in this action. Jeff and I kept painting.

As we were talking outside we came to the conclusion that we had neglected our kids enough for one day. Mind you, the kids were totally fine. They were happy playing inside by themselves but the American Mom in me felt like we needed to do something with them. I am working on these thoughts but I still have them. So I say to Jeff, "why don't you and the kids take a hike." Get it. :)  Jeff was game. He said he had thought of taking them on a hike too. It was the perfect day for it. My girlfriend had told me recently about Pt. Whitehorn, and I had been told about it before by another friend who said it was perfect for small kids so Jeff thought he'd try it out. 

So we came in and had lunch and then I put Emmett down for nap while Jeff got the backpack packed with water bottles, sweatshirts, camera, and a snack.

Then they were off.

Here are my cute little hikers.

The kids were all stories when they got home. They had found forts and saw animals and played on the beach and used their walking sticks and...
I think the hike was good for all of us!
I kept painting the whole time they were gone, minus the breaks I took to talk to friends who happened to drive by.