A Walk In The Woods

As part of our big weekend, we took the kids to the park. We "graduated" from the littlest playground equipment to the mid-sized equipment, which is more of a challenge for our little climbers. And it's more fun for Amelia, too.

I actually tried the kids out on the bigger equipment during a playdate with a fellow triplet mom earlier in the week, and the boys had a blast. It's more challenging for Jeff and me to keep track of everyone and make sure they don't tackle something that's a little too big for them, but they listened pretty well and we only had one minor mishap.

After a couple hours of climbing, sliding, and running, we broke out a little lunch. The boys sat at the picnic table like champs and ate a pretty decent lunch, and Jeff and I started to get cocky. We decided to take everyone for "a little hike." The idea was to just try it out, since we had to hold hands and that's still a pretty new concept to the boys. We each took ahold of two children and headed out.

The boys and Amelia LOVED it. We looked at the river, stopped to pick up ever single rock on the trail, and learned to watch where we were going! It was a balance challenge for mom and dad to keep little ones from going down while keeping our own footing, too. We figured we walked about a mile. The boys trooped right along the whole way.

I expected Amelia to enjoy it, but I was a little surprised by how well the boys did. I think they liked the freedom -- even if they did have to hold hands -- and exploring a new place.

We had one little problem with Alex wanting to break away from Daddy, but it was quickly resolved. I tried to carry Isaac at one point, because his little legs were barely long enough to reach from one step to the next. But he protested: "Want to walk!" so I put him back down.

It could have been a total disaster. We could have wound up with four crying children being carried out of the woods by two crying parents. Someone could have bolted off the trail or tripped and gotten hurt. We could have had more than one minor meltdown about the rule to hold hands.

But we didn't.

It just goes to show that you never know what might happen unless you try. We've learned over and over on this triplet adventure that you have to be brave. The worst rarely happens, and most of the time, the end result is worth the effort.

We've got four enthusiastic hikers on our hands now, so watch out world, because here we come!

© Trippin' Mama 2010