A trip to the mountains

When planning our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, we had expected to do quite a bit of hiking. We have taken some pretty long hikes during our travels, but this was the first year that our youngest has been too big to carry in a backpack. But this is a girl who goes nonstop all day everyday, so we attempted a 1.5 mile hike. It turned out that this "hike" was a lot less moving and a lot more stopping.

Those hydration packs were wonderful for keeping the kids hydrated (too wonderful). Eventually the stopping to drink and stopping to pee became so frequent and the whining so intense that I offered my camera, hoping that taking nature pictures would make the hiking experience go a little more smoothly.

We only made it .5 miles on that hike before my husband and I admitted defeat, but we did make it to one amazing view before turning back.

What we learned is that a little bit of walking can work if we skip the hydration packs, make sure everyone is well rested, walk in the morning or evening when it's cool, and spend some time near water at some point during or after the walking.

And we all hiked happily ever after.