Go Hike Hike Day

Down the road from my house is a great hiking spot - Oak Creek. It's 8000+ acres of forested land owned by Oregon State University. Just recently, we've begun to visit more frequently. On one rare sunny morning this week, I decided to take the kids out and explore. I got the diaper bag ready for Kaden, lugged out the Ergo, clipped on the pacifier holder, dressed Anika appropriately, socks, shoes, long-sleeves all around, and finally, we were off.

Anika absolutely loved it! She walked next to me most of the time, between spurts of racing ahead and racing back. We saw many "Wawfaw" (waterfalls) and lots and lots of dogs. Every dog that came by, Anika would exclaim:

"Mommy! That's our dog!"
Me: "No honey, other people have dogs too. Lots of people have dogs."
Anika: "We have dog. My dog name Grizzly. Grizzly my beeest frieeeend. I wuv my dog." (And he loves you because you pass him entire sticks of string cheese under the table...*sigh*).

At one point on the walk, I took a deep, audible breath in through my nose and out my mouth, which Anika immediately mimicked. I asked her, "What do you smell, Anika?" Long pause, footfalls on gravel. "Ummmm, ice cream, mommy!" Chuckle.

Other sound bites:
"Woooow, mommy! Wawfaw!" (Which is really the creek, again.)
"Mommy, there's mud erywhere."

It was really delightful. The breeze was cool in the shadows, warm in the sun, and smelled like the forest - damp, fresh, and alive. We could hear the creek during most of the walk, rushing loud as it came near the trail, and quieting as it flowed away. The plants were just beginning to sprout into a symphony of greens. Nettles thickly blanketed the ground, which we did avoid, thank goodness. It was beautiful - the sun, the shadows, the slight chill in the air, the buzz of spring awakening. Kaden was soundly asleep and Anika was on her own personal forest adventure. It was most certainly worth the hassle of gathering everything together...

...until...

"Mommy, I have go bathroom."

Srsly? We are nearly at the farther point from the car and the Porta-Potty, so squatting it will have to be.
No big deal, I figure, so I quickly corral Anika back and take her into the roughage next to the path, thinking please please please just be pee. At this point, I'm realizing how not easy it is to squat down in the forest with a sleeping baby strapped to my chest, in order to strip my toddler down as quickly as possible, and attempt to teach her how to pee her first pee in the wild. With some awkward maneuvering, I eventually get her into the squat and tell her "Ok, go pee now."

And go she did!...

... Unfortunately, she stood straight up to do it! Her shirt hem, pants, and underwear got completely soaked, as did the tops of her socks.

So, there I was, standing in the middle of the forest with a bare-bottomed, urine-saturated toddler and a sleeping baby, wondering how I was going to get us all back to car as quickly as possible. I didn't have an extra set of Anika clothes on me, so I did the only thing I could do - I pulled up her wet, still warm pants, and we hauled balls back the way we came.

After when felt like an eternity, we finally got back to the car with only minor chaffing. I was just going through the motions, trying to get everyone packed into the car quickly, and to get Anika out of her clothes. While Anika stood there cold and wet, I threw open the car door to get Kaden buckled in. Too much in my focus, I wasn't careful enough opening the door. THWUNK. The door hit Anika hard in the head, and she was tossed to the gravel road. Anika, soaking wet, began to cry, as a vertical bruise started to form on her cheek. I quickly woke up Kaden and loaded him into the to car seat, as he added his own wail and flail to the chorus. Once Kaden was buckled in, I gingerly grabbed Anika and stood her up in the trunk, stripped off all her clothes, wiped her down with a cold wet wipe and plopped her in the seat. I felt so awful for her. I'm sure if there had been onlookers, they would have been aghast.

Despite all of the drama, it was fun. I had to laugh to myself on the way home at how funny (and tough and painful) life can be.

We went "hiking" a lot this week, in between the raindrops. I got to take a couple all by myself, which was relaxing and centering. Listening to music and being outside are two of my favorite things to do. Although, it did seem sacrilegious listening to T-Pain and Pitbull in such a serene locale...

Anika has asked me everyday this week to "Go hike hike day?" Sure, we'll go hiking today if you want to. :)