Something simple to break out of a rut.

I am going to start with an update just in case anyone is wondering. This spring, we kind of had the turkey season that never was. Eli and I never got back out to chase them. Things just got busy and time got away from us. I am going to take consolation in the fact that we purchased, practiced and successfully used the gear needed for kids to go hunting with in the future and I look forward to the springs to come.

This is a perfect lead into the rest of the post. Our family got stuck in the day to day and a bit of a “rut”. Work has been crazy, trying to keep up with things around the house, and the kids' activities have really made the time fly by and all of a sudden it is July.

Kristin and I have also been thinking a lot about the future and dreaming big, which is awesome and why we started this blog now. We have hit a stage in our life that is the beginning of bigger things and this is one of the best ways for us to record it so we can look back on these memories and this journey. Looking and planning the future is great, but I am an overthinker and once I get thinking and planning, it is easy for me to go a little too far in that and when this happens, I tend to not focus on what we can do now. The results of this have led to a little more stress built up within me than I would have liked which shortens my patience, brings my mood down, and makes it hard to focus. Well, the 4th of July holiday break has surely turned out to be a blessing for us.

After stepping back for a second, I had to think what can we do as a family that gets us outside, physical exercise, and doing something all together as a family with the resources we have right now. I really wanted to take the kids hiking, but for our younger kids, walking a longer distance can be tough. So we found a state recreation area that had paved biking/walking trails with tons of places to stop and play, have a picnic, and beaches along the river. We knew this place is a popular camping spot and would be crowded with the holiday. Normally, this would have stopped me from going there, but we decided or couldn’t find another option that had what this area had so instead we just decided to go for it and I am sure glad we did.

We got up in the morning, ate a good breakfast, packed snacks, lunch, water, a blanket, grabbed our go bag, threw the strollers in the car and headed down there. It was just that simple. We stopped in at the welcome center, bought a day pass, and received some good guidance on where to go and what to do. We walked a lot. There were some bikers, but I was happy that everyone seemed to be in a good mood and was very courteous to one another. We took plenty of breaks to rest and get water and a snack. We watched all the boats on the river and when we got to our turnaround point, had a picnic and played at the beach for a while. When our youngest got restless and tired and couldn't play on the beach, I took him on a hike up the hill in our more capable stroller to a look out spot to wave at the rest of our family down at the beach. By the time we got back, he was out. After we made the trek slowly back to our car and while doing that something was very obvious. The mood difference in our kids, from when we first started our walk to right now was incredible. Everyone’s attitude had noticeably improved even though at the end, even though we were all starting to wear down a bit. Another difference that was easy to spot was the drastic decrease in arguing within the kids. Instead of fighting over the same toys they had played with a thousand times they were playing together. We stopped and got ice cream on the way home and this was when we got one of the my most favorite questions I have ever been asked from my kids. “Can we do this every Saturday?”.

I believe this is why God gave us the great outdoors. Something as simple as a long walk in a new area, gave us the mindset of forgetting about life for a while and just enjoying something together as a family.