For family night a couple of weeks ago--and in honor of Pioneer Day (a day celebrated by members of the Church of Jesus Christ and people who live in western states settled by American pioneers)--we decided we would play an old-timey game. I explained the rules to Blind Man's Buff, and we pushed the couch and table off to the side of the room to have plenty of space to play. It was a big hit with the kids and hilarious to watch even when I'd been caught.
Just as a warning: the pictures are quite blurry. People were moving so quickly it was hard to get any clear shots.
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| Petya couldn't wait her turn to play. She was so excited watching the rest of us with the blindfold that she kept jumping in asking for her turn. She turned out to be really quite good! |
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| Madie was hilarious. She is a bit of a cheat when it comes to games--it doesn't help that her Aunt Alexa encourages it during games of Battleship at Grammy Haskins' house. But Dad kept tricking her by dressing Elvis up as a babushka--Finn is on the couch because he's out and Petya is covering her mouth trying to stay quiet. |
Finn and Dad were the funniest to watch by far. Finn was in charge of the activity, so he got to go first. These two were the last in this round, and they played cat-and-mouse for a while before Finn finally caught on that if he could find Elvis, Dad must be on the other side.
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| Dad has backed himself into a corner--rookie mistake. |
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| This is just before the downfall of Daddy-O. |
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| And this was Dad's revenge in the next round. |
Earlier that day, while Madie was a camp, the younger two and I ended up on a hike we hadn't really anticipated, but we enjoyed nonetheless. I wanted to check out a trail I had never noticed before starting at Otter Cove. We parked and started on it. It said it was only .3 miles to the Ocean Path, so I figured we'd just walk to there then turn back. I was wearing less-than-ideal sneakers and hadn't packed any water or snacks because I thought it would be more of a walk than anything.
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| Posing in front of Old Soaker--which Finn is blocking entirely. |
It wasn't long before we ran into the Gorham Mountain trailhead and, although I'd warned him I didn't come prepared, Finn urged me to take them to the peak. It was a great day for a hike--cool and overcast. Petya hiked the entire way up herself, but by the time we summited--1.7 miles later--Finn was grumpy and Petya was not going to make it back down by herself. I did happen to have a sandwich in my bag Mike had made and forgotten at the house, so I let them split it and that seemed to perk Finn back up a bit. I did have to carry Petya about half the way back down, and she was so happy to be back in her car seat that she talked about it the last little bit past Otter Cove.
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| At the summit. |
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| Otter Cove from the peak of Gorham Mountain. |
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| Rugosa roses on the side of Otter Cove. |
