Rocks, Rocks Everywhere!

And no, this time, it isn't even my backyard! Well, it's rocks, rocks everywhere there too, but that's not what I am writing about today :-) Today, we went to the Quechee Gorge, a 165 foot chasm in Vermont. We had often driven over it, since the bridge is on our way to Woodstock. But this was the first time we actually got out of the car and hiked down to the bottom of the gorge.

I always had been wondering how safe the hike would be for little ones, but it turned out to be totally safe and ok. I went with a friend who had been there before, and she convinced me to try it :-) We hiked down, and at the bottom there are tons of rocks, and a small river. It's amazing how long kids can be occupied by rocks, water, frogs, and crayfish. I just sat around with my friend, nursed Sylvia, and enjoyed watching the kids play. Her 5yo had a great time running around with my kids, and a good time was had by all.

The kids selected a few tons of rocks to take home, but on the way back uphill they decided to ditch more and more of them. It really reminded me of the Hansel and Gretsel story :-) Only the rocks were bigger. Cees had a particularyl huge one, which he managed to carry for about 500 yards before totally giving up on it. Oh well, we still ended up with way too many rocks at home anyway. It always amazes me how the kids can think we really need more rocks ???? !!!!

During the trip home, they negotiated a complicated schedule of who could have a shower when, and what should happen to all the rocks. At home, they divided in groups, some of them hammering rocks, others cleaning rocks, some eating, and once in a while one or a few went to have a shower. They weren't even fighting, somehow any problems were all worked out in harmony. I was wondering whether aliens had abducted my kids and sent perfect kids instead ;-) I am sure they will be back to normal behavior tomorrow though...

We had lunch at Friendly's because Tara had gotten a new blue stripe at karate. It is pretty challenging to take Erik into a restaurant, it's like trying to have dinner with a bouncy ball bouncing all around you... I was hoping it would be a fast lunch, but somehow the Friendly's staff managed to drag it out so we spent TWO whole hours there. But the kids were very happy about the whole experience, so I guess I should not complain either :-)

Two people asked me whether I had any twins. Three people commented on what a nice birthday party this was. Four people wanted to know whether they really were all mine. Five people just sat and stared :-)

I would love to post pictures of the Quechee Gorge, but I forgot to bring my camera... I guess we'll have to go back there to get more rocks and take some pictures!