Field Trip!

We had the last really nice day on Friday, it was the 24th of October and temperatures reached 70 degrees!!!!! On my list of fall field trips, I had really wanted to get out to Turtle River State Park. Well, the school year got started and then we decided to sell/buy a house and time just slipped away. I managed to jam everything else back in,but I was worried this trip would get left out. Lucky for me, this North Dakota fall has been kind and we were able to make it out there last week! The older kids, Papa and cousin Gavin headed out around 2. Brandon, Grandma Mim and the little boys waited until Mim was done with work. She knows the area very well and was happy to come along to make sure we didn't get lost!
We decided to go to the trail that was farthest away and work our way back up to the visitor center. We started off with a nice loop around the river. We reached a cross road and my dad decided to take us on a "short" .5 mile additional loop. What started out as a nice .6 mile trail turned into what should have been 1.2 mile hike which ended up being a 2.75 mile hike! Last time we let my dad decided which trail to pick! By the time he realized that we were on a much much longer trail then had anticipated, we were already half way through so we trudged ahead. There were several very steep and winding parts which of course terrified me, as my dad likes to say, my anxiety got a nice workout!

After we finally made it back to our car, and did a little jig to celebrate, we met up with Brandon and Grandma Mim and the little boys. We walked along another beautiful trail that lead us by some big logs for Benjamin to jump off of, steep hills for the kids to climb up and a beautiful waterfall for us to all look at. After our hike we played by the old lodge and finally headed to the playground for some much earned snacks and play time! I think it is safe to say the kids were pretty worn out after their almost 4 miles of hiking!

I am not one with nature and I don't particularly like taking my kids to places where they can easily fall off a cliff, however, this was a wonderful time! I think this will have to be a yearly field trip!