At Last!!: This Is Not New York City!

NYC left such an impression on Henry that whenever we go anywhere, he thinks we're going to New York. Imagine his surprise when we pulled out the tent! So Billy and I put our kiddo to the test. We love camping and we thought we'd give it a shot with our 3.5 year-0ld.

Why not?

At one point in my life I would have thought that it would be totally cool to come upon these little creatures during a hike. With my 3.5 yr old who would want to "cuddle them"? Not so. Luckily we were in the car, just driving into The Shenandoah Mountains along Skyline Drive. Henry still asked if he could cuddle them.
Hello Momma Bear. If we were hiking, this is about when you would make your exit-which years ago, Billy and I were in a similar situation. From the safety of the car, we keep clicking away and saying, "No, Henry we can not take them home or feed them honey."

We made it to the campsite, set up, prepared to hike 6.5 miles to the 95' waterfall and...rain. A lot of rain. And lightening. Lots. So we did what anyone would do and head to the camp store to watch the storm, have a beer and some ice-cream.
45 minutes later, this...

Crisp, clear, bug-free hiking. Perfect!
Having a sip of water.

We made it! With Mr. Grumpy, "No-More-Pictures" Guy!

Actually, Henry really amazed us. He probably hiked about 4 miles total. On and off, Billy and I gave him piggy-backs and shoulder rides. What a trooper!

Ahhh...

That's better

Best part of the hike? Finding the red blackberry bush at the end! Yum!

Back at camp. Light sticks!

Dinner time! Steak, broccoli and potatoes! Of course!

Aaaaaand, about 5 minutes later Henry announces,

"Mommy, Daddy, I think it's time for my nap."

Good Morning!

Tee Hee, sorry, I couldn't resist!

Breakfast of Champions!

Before we packed up, Henry felt the need to shovel the campsite. He's very tidy.

You know what I love the most? This kept him busy for about 2 hours. No batteries!

Our next hike has a funny background story that Billy and I tell whenever we talk to anyone about our camping adventures (pre-Henry). So we used to hike for hours and then we would just pitch a tent where ever when we got tired. Anyway, this one particular trip, we hiked for about 7 hours up, down and through this mountain. We eventually came to this beautiful area where the river was creating these amazing little waterfalls and swimming holes. We jumped in thinking we had discovered this secluded forgotten oasis. We were splashing around and setting up the tent when along came a little yappy dog. Behind him came his owners carrying nothing more than a water bottle. We were a bit surprised and asked them where they hiked from, to which they replied, "about a half mile away, there's a parking area. We're right off the highway here." Great. We laughed so hard!

Anyway, we always wanted to come back to this area and DRIVE! So that we did!

Here's our little hiker at the top.

I have a picture of Billy and I on this rock about 6 years ago. I will try to dig it up.

Henry at the top of the rock slide waiting to go down.

"Catch me Daddy!"

"That was fun!" "Cold, but fun!"

And that's about all of my body that went in!

What a fantastic time we had. We are so thrilled that Henry seems to love the great outdoors as much as we do. He kept saying, "Are we going to camp forever?" Good to know we have options if things really turn south! Ha ha, just kidding...

So what else has been occupying our time?

Water Park !