We kicked off our outdoor activities in June by doing a family bike
ride to the Brow. Isaac is getting closer to making it up the big
hills, but still has to walk some.
Just an FYI, if you continue to yell at mothers, it might bring out a mama bear. Thankfully he did not yell at the kids and afterward we used it as a teaching moment of how you should not treat people and also discussed that maybe he was having a bad day/month/year.
The following weekend my brother drove over from Nashville and picked up me and the boys to head down to Florida for the weekend. Before we left our house, the boys demonstrated for their Uncle Mark their new rappelling skills. He was impressed.
While in Florida we did a day trip to Dog Island by boat. This was our second trip like this (the first time we were temporarily stranded and had to ride out a storm). This time was more benign, though we did accidentally run up on a sandbar trying to find the deep channel. Lots of memories for my kiddos.
Back at home the following week, we met friends to ride bikes at the local Pump Track. Jack is getting better with catching air on the hills and Isaac is getting better in general. I love to see them doing what they love. It's even better when we can do it with friends.
On Juneteenth we had a talk about what that holiday was and met some friends to ride bikes and share watermelon at a local park. Unfortunately we got rained on, but it was still nice to be out with friends.
For Father's Day weekend we did our third annual float trip on the Hiwassee River with our friends, the Pattens. In the past we have camped and rented rafts and paid for a shuttle. This year we bought two inflatable kayaks and our friend bought tubes. We met at the take-out spot, then crammed all of our gear and both families into our SUV. This ended out working beautifully. At the end of the float, we grilled burgers and ate together and then the dads drove back to pick up the other vehicle. We all had a blast and hope to do it more regularly than once a year.
To end the month, we met friends to camp for the weekend at Edgar Evins State Park and completed a day hike to Cummins Falls. The kids, ages one to eight, all did great. This was the second time I have taken my boys to hike to this waterfall. If you are visiting, new rules due to Covid-19 require that you get a day pass ahead of time – it is $6 per person. That part is a bit of a bummer, but it is worth it, and the trail wasn't overly crowded.
We are all thrilled to be back to spending time outside, with people when possible. We have some fun things lined up for July as well.
