our family adventures go something like this:
"hey, the sun is shining, lets go for a walk up a mountain"
make and pack snacks, 45 mins.
locate the many mittens, hats, snow pants, jackets and wild children and pile into car, 30 mins.
arrive at destination.
discover missing mittens and ill-prepared outfits for how windy and cold it is. dig through bag in car that has yet to be dropped off at salvation army. that coat wasn't so bad after all, why am i donating it? dress everyone, load up backpack, hunt around car for missing items, finally ready to set off, 25 mins.
less than 5 minutes up the hill the complaining begins. also, why is all this snow here and my snow boots are at home?
arrive at top 25 mins later. ah, lovely!
enjoy views before dishing out snacks to 'starving' children. hope clumps of snow they are putting in the milo are white, not yellow.
banjo falls flat on his face on a rock and has massive nosebleed - i freak. at same moment ivy impatiently wants me to re-braid her hair so i yell for her to go away as i am freaking over baby blood. she runs away in a huff.
banjo ok after some mumma-love and a lolly.
ivy located but runs away from me again, evil mother.
yindi is head over heels in love with our friend eric, who tagged along on our hike (he has no children and is surely glad of the fact after spending the day with us). she keeps telling him she loves him and puckers up for snotty kisses.
ivy is reasoned with and we start walking back down.
yindi chases after beloved eric's hand to hold and falls flat on her face. no blood, but howling for the remainder of the walk down.
mick starts a snowball fight which cheers everyone up. except for me, the scoundrel puts a clump of snow down my back and i can't get it out.
we make it back to the car with no futher injury or moods - a successful family hike indeed!
(poor little nose! my hat knitted by ivy in aussie green and gold!)
(please note our lovely 'spring' weather won't you?!)
oh em this did make me smile - we kind of forget all these 'normal everyday things' that it takes to organise the 'fun' things...poor banjo, blood always looks scary...love ivy's knitted hat, she's a knitting wonder that girl ! sounds like a fun outing and the kids won't remember all the hiccups hopefully, just the fun stuff (and maybe the blood !). xxxxxxxx
ps - love those views, beautiful !
Posted by: Mabel | April 03, 2011 at 07:27 PM
Oh my... I know this story... it's the same with all kids around the world :D so I'm happy I'm not alone! Anyway views are great!
Posted by: Anna | April 03, 2011 at 10:19 PM
You have my sympathy but I have to admit your way of telling the story made me laugh.
I love the photo of the two girls with Banjo's bottom in the middle.
Dreads are looking awesome, pretty dready mama!
Posted by: Anne-Marie | April 03, 2011 at 10:42 PM
Poor Banjo...that bloodnose looks 'eina'!
"(He has no children and is surely glad of the fact after spending the day with us)" = FUNNY :-)
But surely even he couldn't resist FREE "snotty kisses"?!? ;-D
Posted by: Juanita | April 03, 2011 at 11:30 PM
ah, that sure cheered me up, emily... it's teenage dramas over here! enjoy them while they are young ;)
Posted by: nicole@lebenskuenstler | April 03, 2011 at 11:40 PM
i really love this post because that is how many of our family adventures turn out! I have this idea of how other bloggers have these easy serene nature-y experiences, and it is nice to hear the realness of it! It is funny, even after all of the struggle, after we get home, we actually have really enjoyed the outing, even if it didn't go as I had envisioned....
Posted by: cat | April 04, 2011 at 01:46 AM
Oh nooo! I had to admit, I did laugh a lot though :)
Posted by: janet | April 04, 2011 at 02:11 AM
Banjo's poor little nose! :(
What you don't go through for a little family adventure. I'm exhausted just reading this!
Posted by: Holly C. | April 04, 2011 at 03:39 AM
You make me realize as much as I love Maine, but I would never survive there. I need sun and warmth. All that snow is beautiful, but dang!! Its April! I love hearing about your hikes. They remind me of our hikes we take here much less frequently. lol Oh yes and minus the snow. We have to go when its not steaming.
Posted by: Gina | April 04, 2011 at 04:36 AM
This is my life. The whining and the starving and the injuries and "it wasn't this windy at home" scene. Haha...what fun!
Posted by: Kate | April 04, 2011 at 04:52 AM
oh you poor mamma.....
our snow is gone. thank god. and hiking with children. well we never did that. we hike now all the time without them and love it. i guess we spent our days inside when they were little until we were reassured that mittens wouldn't be needed.
wait.
when they were little we didn't live anywhere that the snow lasted for more than a day. that's how we survived.
my heart goes out to you now that we are in wisconsin. but since the kids are 19 and 23 i don't have to worry about mittens or boots ever again....
big hugs. and that poor little nose. now that made me sad.
Posted by: beth | April 04, 2011 at 05:45 AM
Oh, poor Em! I appreciate your honesty... sounds so much like my days. My girl (Carlie, 7) reacts the same way as Ivy. Fun, huh? :)
Posted by: Jill | April 04, 2011 at 06:11 AM
I love that mooning shot that Banjo gave! And Yindi's hat is so adorable.
Do you have that much snow in town or is just mostly up on the mountain?
Posted by: Erika Martin | April 04, 2011 at 06:40 AM
Awww! At least the scenery was beautiful! And I love the shot of Banjo's bum!
Posted by: Funnelcloud Rachel | April 04, 2011 at 07:53 AM
oh my hec, girl! you crack me up. sounds JUST LIKE one of our adventures. once again, your vivid descriptions make me feel less like an "evil" mother myself! every time we leave the house it seems i'm narrating some crazy play-by-play that sounds a lot like this! i LOVE that shot of banjo's rear end between the girls and the look on yindi's face with her new beau is just so coy! awesome post.
Posted by: Lindsay | April 04, 2011 at 08:11 AM
oh man. i have so "been there done that!" we are all so much happier once we get out of the house but it's the "getting out of the house" that's the hardest part!
jessy
Posted by: removeyourlenscap | April 04, 2011 at 11:38 AM
sounds just like a day out with us!!!
Posted by: Leonie | April 04, 2011 at 06:21 PM
I love how honest you are em - I often read blogs thinking that their lifes couldn't be that perfect. Oh and after seeing Eric I would be holding his hand and offering kisses too!!!!
Posted by: Jac | April 04, 2011 at 08:08 PM
Yup! We go through the same here. Sans snow but just as full of the unplanned.
Posted by: Tina | April 04, 2011 at 09:10 PM
Oh Em...what a hike! poor Banjo! but I did have a a small laugh about the Ivy running off...I know that scenario so well...
Posted by: sarah | April 04, 2011 at 11:58 PM
You're just great! :)
Posted by: Emma | April 05, 2011 at 12:59 AM
so F*R*E*A*K*I*N' funny...
love it! real life with kids at it's best!
thanks for sharing your real life and the chuckle...
Posted by: patty | April 05, 2011 at 05:07 AM
do you know I loved this post. I think it is so easy to see everyone's posts about the beautiful places they go and the great things they do (and it does look gorgeous in your photos) and then feel dismal, because in your own real life there are falls, and tears, snot and snappiness, sulky whiny children (and dare I say it adults too, although perhaps just in our house). Reading your description above, it could have been written about our family, and it felt so good to know we are not alone, that those moments happen to other people too - sometimes with all the packing and unpacking and then minor crises along the way we get home and I wonder why I bother, but it is all worthwhile and it is those moments of fun and snowball fights and breathtaking views that make the memories and make all the rest worth it. Thanks for keeping it real!
Posted by: bohomumma | April 05, 2011 at 05:23 AM
Laughing so hard, but the view at the top is gorgeous!!!
Posted by: Faith | April 05, 2011 at 06:23 AM
what a peaceful, fun filled and warm outing!:) i can relate, but without the snow...these are what memories are made of dearest em, gotta love them all, aye?
Posted by: Still Lily | April 05, 2011 at 10:03 AM