The Grand 'Edvendture'

Paul and I decided it might be fun to start taking some of the older grand kids on some of our hiking 'edventures'. We've had a few previous outings on the Red Hill, but decided to do something a bit more out of the back yard. Our first grand 'edventure' was Saturday, March 14th. We took Brynnli, Tavin and Kennis out to the sequoia that's located near the Browse Area Guard Station. I have tried to find some written history about how this tree got planted there, but I am having no luck. Anyway, the hike turned out to be a little longer than we planned, (around 11 miles round trip) but the kids did great. They followed the hiking with Grandpa and Grandma rule - no whining - with no slips. We were amazed at how well they all did through the rocks, mud and snow with cold and muddy feet. When asked her favorite part of the hike, Kennis' reply was, "the candy!" She did seem to have a great time as she 'skiied' through the snowy places hanging on to Grandpa and Grandma and 'jumped' over the muddy places. Brynnli and Tavin just made it by themselves with the aid of Grandpa's hiking sticks. We had a nice little picnic at the table under the sequoia tree and even accessed the old outhouse. Brynnli and Tavin were prepared with their Christmas pocket knives to cut up our apples and that one last Starburst. Then we headed back down with regular pit stops (a little too much Capri Sun was consumed at lunch) and much rock hounding. Tavin and Kennis filled their sweatshirt pouches with many beautiful specimens. Tavin even had to resort to putting one in his hood. All in all, it was a grand and very scenic 'edventure.' We hope to start a tradition and have the opportunity to do things like this, maybe not quite so long, with all the grand kids as they reach the 'edventure' age.