Tangled Forest

The other day we went for a spontaneous family hot dog roast

while the uncles worked on building a corral.

 Rain absolutely adores her cousin, River.

They immediately found each other.

Hand in hand, they set off on a marvelous adventure
through the tangled forest to find the sticky swamp.

HUP, two, three, four!

First, they had to conquer the tangled forest.

"Wriver! Whey yare you?"

"Over here!"

Finally, success!

Next, it was the Canyon-With-Only-One-Way-Out, which was UP!

And UP we went,
clamoring, sliding, clinging, grabbing, dragging, and carrying.

Rain turned out to be quite the hiker and didn't want much help
from the rest of us. She is Little Miss Independent these days.

We grown-ups were invited merely for the fact that

they needed a little help traversing the area.

The girls had fun climbing up the sandbanks and sliding back down.

River was a very constructive mentor for Rain

The two younger cousins enjoyed the warmth of a perfect fall outing.

Believe me, it's a challenge to hold a little one on your hip, navigate a camera and take semi-decent pictures, all the while trying not to impale the said little one with the newly cut--and sharpened--hot dog roasting sticks that are somehow entwined in your fingers, the crook of your elbow, or poking out of a pocket. Somehow we all managed.

Watching my mom help on our adventure, it made me remember all the Saturday "Bentures" we had growing up. I'm sure I always did my share of complaining about things not being perfect--the sand in my shoes, or my hot dog falling into the fire, or the smoke in my eyes--but I remember my mom always being so cheerful about being out, doing something together as a family. Now I'm a mom and I get the challenge of tackling not-so-perfect circumstances and still being positive.

When we returned after giving up on the Sticky Swamp, the little explorers were ready for some grub. But first we had to roust the uncles away from their work.

If one little girl in a hole is fun . . .

. . . then two little girls in a hole is even more fun!

Yum, hot dogs, finally. River wanted both varieties--
cooked and uncooked.

"Hey, how come you got two, I only got one."  

This was a good day!