Spring Break 2017: Florida with Cousins

I have to say that I have been enjoying Facebook's "On This Day" feature. It turns out that our family life is pretty cyclical and we have consistent times throughout each year when we manage to visit my scattered family.

Mid-to-late March seems to be when we see my sister and her family. Facebook let us know that this is the weekend we were together last year and also a few years ago. Yay for quick snapshots of recent years.

The last five weeks have been a bit crazy in our household, we have been traveling non-stop: St. Augustine as a family, the Cayman Islands for a girl's weekend, Daniel going to Cleveland, Ohio for a week of training, and then the boys and I going to Tallahassee to kick off spring break. I think we are all ready for some time at home.

With all of our recent comings and goings, it made sense that this trip to visit cousins needed to be a long weekend instead of an entire week... I'm not sure I could have handled being gone that long.

I always enjoy trips to see my sister and her family. Normally our brother Mark comes with me, and Daniel stays behind to catch up on work (this weekend he was doing some weekend-warrior projects on our house). Unfortunately Mark was unable to make this trip. This meant I had my first long road trip without another adult to help out.

I downloaded a ton of podcasts to listen to (Story Pirates for the kids and The Homeschool Sisters and Wild & Free Children for me), loaded up, met Daniel for a late lunch in downtown Chattanooga and then headed south.

The boys were troopers and made it to supper time without any complaining. Really, they were great travelers and we only had to stop one additional time before arriving in Tallahassee for a late bedtime.

On Friday we decided to be lazy. Angela made us banana bread, the kids played outside, running as wild as they wanted. Florida was experiencing a cold snap, but the kids didn't care and soon had the hose out and were wet and muddy.

I helped Izzy make our families traditional Pistachio Cake – we make it for birthdays but the green cake seemed fitting for St. Patrick's Day. Jack made his favorite green smoothie for his cousins (they were not impressed).

After lunch, we made our way to a local park. The kids had a blast, and then managed to find a sprinkler post (evidently these are common in Florida, I have no idea if that is what it is called – basically a post that has a water fountain and a sprayer).

Before we knew it, the boys were soaked. Again. With no spare clothes in the car, we made them strip down and ride home in their skivvies.

After dinner we settled the kids down to watch Pete's Dragon on Netflix with a slice of pistachio cake. Isaac was a "good little brother" and bugged Jack until Jack gave up the prime seat on the couch. It was a good way to kick off our time in Florida.

Snow Cream

This year winter pretty much bypassed our area of the country. In fact we were pretty certain that it was skipping us altogether – I think we had two light snows that left Jack disappointed that we wouldn't be going sledding.

The week before spring break, we were meeting with our small group when we had an unexpected snow. We were in town, off of our mountain, and thankful to being driving a four-wheel drive vehicle (though it wasn't needed). Jack was thrilled to see the white stuff floating down from the sky, and anticipated finally getting to sled.

Alas, the snow was a scant two inches, and though pretty, it was not worthy of pulling out the sleds.

We allowed the kid play briefly on our porch before sending them to bed. When we awoke, the ground had a light covering of snow, still not enough to go sledding, BUT just enough to scoop up and make a batch of Snow Cream.

I am pretty sure Snow Cream is a southern thing, I had never even heard of it before Daniel and I got married (and I lived in Canada for several years as a kid). Lucky for our kids, we always make a batch of Snow Cream when we get enough snow.

I don't know if Snow Cream made up for the lack of sledding, but the kids did seem happy with the cold, sugary concoction. Especially Isaac as it was his first year to be big enough to try it. He happily slurped his down and would not let anyone take his cup away!

Hopefully next year we will get to use our sleds. Jack has also been asking about skiing and snowboarding. I have a feeling next year will be the year to introduce him to those activities.

Rainbow Lake Loop

We continue to fall more and more in love with our little mountain and all of the outdoor activities that are within minutes of our home. Each excursion is its own adventure as we see everything fresh through our children's eyes.

Last weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous spring weather –winter mostly skipped over us this year– and made our way to the Rainbow Lake trail head. I was prepared with food for a picnic and the kids were prepared with an abundance of energy.

 Jack and Daniel at top of bluff (neon green shirt). 

They climbed up a chimney hidden in a crevice of the bluff that is in view.

Isaac and I at bottom of bluff (as viewed by Jack and Daniel).

We made our way down the trail, stopping to explore the bluffs at our leisure. Jack and Daniel climbed up a chimney in one of the bluffs, the same one they had done at Thanksgiving. Jack was proud of his accomplishment and some teenagers were clearly impressed.

On the other hand, Isaac was not happy to be left at the bottom. His time will come before we know it!

As soon as Jack and Daniel made their way back down to us, we pressed on toward Rainbow Lake where we stopped for a picnic.

Recent rains meant the dam at the lake was flowing freely with a cascade of water. We enjoyed the sunshine and our sandwiches before exploring the rocks at the water's edge.

While the weather was nice, the water was still cold. We told Jack that this was not the time to get feet wet, and thankfully he complied. Hiking back to the car while wet would not be a fun task. Isaac was determined to try to do whatever Jack does, so we were glad that neither of them tried to get in the water. 

After exploring for a bit, we decided to walk across the cable bridge that crosses the creek. This is the junction where the trail splits, turning right to Signal Point or continuing across the bridge to Edward's Point. We didn't have enough water or time to complete that hike which made Jack sad.

Instead we agreed to follow a lower trail (orange blazes) that we had not noticed before. The sign for this trail said Cable Bridge 0.4 miles. We made (the right) assumption that this would cross back over the creek and circle back to the original trail.

We weren't completely sure where it would take us, but felt confidant we would connect back to the Rainbow Lake trail.

Worst case, we would turn around and back track. Thankfully it did connect and the loop extended our hike from what would have been 1.6 miles out-and-back to a 2.5 mile loop. We enjoyed discovering another cable bridge and a whole section of bluffs that we didn't realize were there.

Instead of circling Rainbow Lake, the trail meandered up a different ravine with another creek draining down into the creek that feeds Rainbow Lake.

While Isaac hiked most of the way down to the lake, after the first cable bridge, we put him in our Deuter Kid Carrier and I carried him the rest of the way. He fell asleep shortly after the second cable bridge crossing and napped as we made our way back to the car.

I love how the seasons change the scenery and how we interact with it. In November the creek was fairly dry due to last year's drought. We walked across rocks and creek crossings that were submerged on this particular hike. We also noticed many trees down from the recent storms in our area.

I love that our children are growing up with easy access to hiking and nature and learning to love the outdoors like we do. We always enjoy our hikes and sharing our love for the outdoors with our kids.

Previous Rainbow Lake Hikes:
Hike to Rainbow Lake I ⎮ Hike to Rainbow Lake II ⎮ Rainbow Lake to Edwards Point