Scott's Gap

Bohdin was really into his Roman soldiers last week and decided he would be a Roman legionnaire for Halloween. He also wanted to learn to say trick or treat in Latin. This week he is really into Playmobil trains though. He talks about them nonstop and has spent his own money to buy some of the freight cars recently.



The weather was pleasant last week so the kids had a lot of time to play outside. Bohdin used the hose to create rivers and then tried to dam it up with rocks. Since Cora was out there as well I took advantage of some free time and scrubbed the floors. I wish I had picked something with results that I lasted longer.



Bohdin, Nyla, and Cora were having an afternoon snack yesterday while I was reading them some books. Bohdin announced that he was getting a drink of water and came back with a cup that had been in the fridge. I asked him if that was really soda and he said yes. I told him something about lying to me. Then he said "Sorry. What does sorry mean?" Bohdin apologizes often although he rarely seems to mean it. I laughed when I heard the question. Bohdin hid under the table crying and did appear sorry at that point.

Nyla said goodbye to Buddy before work yesterday and told him to have fun making money.

This morning Nyla suggested we go for a walk which I thought was an excellent idea. The Jefferson Memorial Forest is near us and I've thought about visiting it often. Today seemed like a perfect day. I packed a picnic lunch and we set off. We stopped at Scott's Gap and did the short loop trail which is labeled a strenuous 1.3 mile hike. They were not kidding about the strenuous part. There was some really steep climbing. The elevation changed more than 200 feet and it liked to do it all at once. The hills tired Bohdin and I a little but Nyla had no trouble. She even ran up the top of one hill while I was struggling behind her to not appear too winded. It was great and something we will try to do every week until the weather is too awful. There are numerous trails throughout the system so next week we may choose an easy one.

I asked Bohdin and Nyla to each find three interesting things for me to take a picture of. Some are below. The kids were my interesting subjects. Nyla was the leader and way ahead for most of the hike but at one point Bohdin wanted to be the leader. Nyla was mad and refused to go any further. It was several minutes before she decided to continue. In Bohdin's hands are the numerous leaves he collected. He finds a lot of interesting leaves when we are outside but as soon as they come into the house they are forgotten. I will probably throw away today's leaf collection as well.







Cora was in the backpack the entire way so after lunch she enjoyed the chance to run around. Next time we may choose a trail that will be more suitable for her to walk a short bit.