A hike in the woods

Austin, Aidan, Skye, Aaron & I went for a hike on the Horse Loop of the Baden Powell trail on February 14. It was a really nice day. We were hiking for about 3 hours in total.

The highlight of this hike was when we came to a creek, and stayed for a bit, while Austin and Aidan had about 20 minutes of imaginary play. It was thrilling to hear what they were creating, and to visualize what they were seeing in the scene before us.

They had to do some problem-solving to get to dry land, so Austin moved a large rock for Aidan to use as a stepping stone. I could see how wobbly the rock was, and imagined Aidan falling in, so I coudn't resist the temptation to call out for Aidan to check the stability of the rock before he steps on it. Skye nudged me to let him find out on his own. While I agree, that is a much better way to learn and to integrate what one learns, I wasn't keen for my 8-year-old to be walking home for half an hour in the middle of winter, soaking wet. Anyway, I didn't mention this again, Aidan did slip a bit, but he only got one shoe and sock wet. Seems like a fair compromise.

Their play continued as pirates, finding their way around an island they'd never explored before. It was neat to see how they would play off each other's ideas - the story would magically unfold.

I waited too long to record this event, so many of the details are now lost, but I remember feeling proud of the limitless imagination of our children, and their ability to cooperate in discovery and storytelling.