Spud Lake

This past Saturday was the first day in weeks when we didn't have anything to do. We were hanging around in our pajamas all morning, completely content to do absolutely nothing. So when we got a call at 9:30am from a bunch of friends who were planning on going on a hike to Spud Lake - just 15 minutes from our house - Mark was inclined to say, "No thanks".

But being the sweet, wonderful husband that he is, he indulged my desire to see friends (and wear the girls out so they'd take a good nap). We raced around the house trying to make it to the trailhead by 10. So much for our relaxing morning! Mark managed to make himself some coffee and pack the girls some snacks and suncreen and we were off. We were only a few minutes later than everyone else!

When I told Norah that we were going on a hike with all of her friends she said, "That sounds like a great idea!! Mom... just one thing. What's a hike?" When I told her it was a walk in the woods she was slightly less excited, but the promised presence of her friends made up for the whole walking part. There were 13 kids total, so there was no shortage of distraction for her!

I don't have any pictures of us on the way up. If you want to see a few good ones (including a couple of rare and elusive photo of yours truly) go to Jill's blog. What I do have are pictures of the craziness that ensued after we got there.

You see, once we got there, we realized that we were at a lake. Duh. And what do small, water-crazy girls want to do when they see a giant body of freezing cold mountain water? They want to get in it!


One of our friends was brave enough to get in and invited any small person who wanted to join her. We had brought a spare pair of undies for Norah so naturally, we stripped her down and said, "Go for it!"


Naturally. Because this - that look of chilly alpine lake swimming joy - is why we moved to the mountains in the first place.


So that our children could convince our friends to take them swimming in frigid, muddy mountain lakes.


So that they could learn to hunt for the perfect skipping rock.


So that they'd be the kind of kids who would rather play in lakes half naked than play video games fully clothed.


So that they'd see their daddy and their friend's daddies enjoying the great outdoors.


So that they'd know the joy of poking things with sticks.


This is exactly why we moved to the mountains.

I love that we could barely get her out of the water when it was time to hike back out.

I love that she had so much fun with her friends totally for free.

I love that the whole experience happened just a quick, 15 minute drive from our house!


And I LOVE that when it was time to walk back, she did a little of this...


...and a lot of this.