the Girls Go for a Walk

"Take a walk" was written on my daily schedule that I worked so carefully on, but it rarely happened. Let's see, the last (and only) time I went for a walk with the kids (they all have to come along, being so young) was a few weeks ago. The twins in one of my double strollers; Grace by herself in the other double stroller. I pushed one, Ben and Bradford took turns pushing the other. We walked up the street, stopping to look at birds through the binoculars, stopping to encourage Ben to keep pushing, stopping to trade Gracie pushers, stopping to end a quarrel over who got to wear the binoculars on his neck, ... Add to that mom limping home because her hips and back were hurting. "Take a walk" did just that. Now I shoo them outside and enjoy the outdoors myself through my window with my binoculars.

Fast forward to today. The weather was absolutely perfect, so I decided to try again, but without the boys. The boys were playing in Andre's yard, and I told them to stay there while I took a quick walk. Twins into the stroller, Grace into the backpack carrier, binoculars on my neck(of course) and off we went. Oh. My. Goodness. There was no squabbling, but pushing 40 lbs while carrying 35 more on my back up a hill was probably not the smartest idea I've had. Sighting a cardinal and a Northern Flicker was a good excuse to rest a bit, however, and made the trip worth it. Mom limped home.

The walk will stay off the schedule.