7. Gooseberry Falls

Daddy, Dahlia & August at the main falls- August was trying to get away!

Yesterday started off iffy. I was feeling really lousy from my cold. Our house is a disaster- I can barely keep up with the laundry & dishes, let alone tackle anything else. The toys are every where (we have yet to buy a storage cabinet with our rummage sale money); the kids were being crazy monkeys. Steve & I were getting really crabby with each other. It could've turned out poorly (to say the least).

Mama &Dahlia at the Upper Falls

August exploring the rocky shore.

We tossed around the idea of driving up the shore; then we nixed that...then talked about going to Park Point (me - not enough energy for hiking in the sand); Brighton Beach (but we had just gone there last week); nothing - stay home work on projects & cleaning (blah). Finally we decided to go ahead & drive up the shore. Thank goodness we did! It seems to be the only place where & when both kids will nap at the same time & Steve & I can actually have a conversation. It was a dull & dreary day, but the temps were warm so it didn't seem to matter. We went to Gooseberry Falls State Park. August's first visit! (I think...). I hadn't been there since April when the waters were RUSHING. This time things were flowing, but quite low. Also there were virtually NO PEOPLE. In the summer this place is CRAWLING with visitors. It was fun to have the place to ourselves to explore. Dahlia didn't want to go. At. All. But once we got there she finally 'warmed up' and had so much fun. August thought it was great to run around too. I was happy that we were all out in the fresh air & relaxed!

Sun finally hitting the shoreline

Lovely & Calm Gooseberry River

Dahlia was pretending to be "Alice in Wonderland" in the tall grass.

Beautiful grassy picnic area.

We hiked a bit, we had a 'picnic' in the CCC picnic shelter - which was great because it was wide open, enclosed & the kids were free to just RUN! Yay! Plus we were out of the wind. Bonus. I even hiked back to the main parking lot - BY MYSELF which was just incredible. No people. Sun peeking through. Shimmers on the river. QUIET. I wasn't carrying a heavy pack or dragging a kid with me...it was really really great. No bugs either! Sometimes I think it's just important for us to remember to get out of the routine. To take the extra effort to put together a spontaneous day at the park, even if at first we don't FEEL like it. This day went from being on the road to crapsville to quite pleasant. I'm glad we did it.