Hiking together

It's been a long week. But the reality is right now, all weeks are full and go by quickly. I'm struggling to find time for myself and time to spend with other adults. (The plight of all parents with young children, but especially challenging for a single mom.) So I went to bed last night feeling overwhelmed and was happy to wake up this morning to a beautiful fall day. It's 65 degrees and sunny...in mid-November...yippie! So I knew we weren't going to sit around the house today....so off we went to Raven's Run Nature Sanctuary. It's about 15-20 miles from the house and it's thousands of acres of beautiful.

Here we are enjoying our day!

This was Katelyn's first real hike and I wasn't sure how far she'd make it, so I picked a one-mile forest loop. She did awesome! She walked the whole way herself.

We got to go on the stepping stone's to get across the creek.

Isn't it gorgeous!!!

I love my girl. She really is my favorite person to spend the day with...even though she talks about Dora the Explorer a lot.

I packed apple slices and sandwiches. Here's Katelyn's sandwich spot. :)

The trail...

She's gotten so big. There's always part of me that wants her to stay little forever, but today there was part of me that was excited for the years to come. The main trail around Raven's Run is 4 miles and part of it goes along the cliff overlooking the Kentucky River. It was so nice out I really wanted to do the whole loop. Maybe I need to get a hiking carrier for her so I can throw her on my back and then we could go...She's getting kind of heavy though....hmmmm.

I love this picture. It always amazes me how perfect a fit Katelyn and I are for each other...and how much I love her.

I feel like today was the deep breath I needed...and now I'm not so overwhelmed.