Zoe's 7th Birthday

I wasn't going to have a party for Zoe again this year, because...I mean...does she even "get it"?  and why bother?  We subscribe to a lazy style of parenting.  But Jeff insisted and I'm glad he did.  Now that we have 6 cousins living in the area, we have enough for a party with family alone.  Throw in her classmates, and gymnastics buddies and we had a PARTY!

Zoe had a great time.  Visiting with other autism families is kind of free therapy.  And I didn't see Ethan most of the time, but he came home sweaty, so I'm pretty sure he had fun, too.

Zoe and her buddy.  I'm so impressed Zoe was able to climb this big slide and went down on her own!

Ethan and cousin.  Ever posing.

I have so many pictures of the top of her head.  Slow camera or fast kid?

Ethan getting flips into the foam pit.

My sweet, sweet birthday girl.

Sweetwater Creek State Park

Yesterday was a great day!  We originally wanted to spend it exploring Ft. Mountain State Park for future camping, but with the time change and general morning laziness, we got a late start and changed to somewhere closer.  We settled on Sweetwater Creek State Park, and it was great!   I had read it was a good hike for young kids, and coming off Zoe's amazing hiking success the day before, I was sure it was going to be awesome.  And it was!  Just not in the way I had thought.

First thing, and my only complaint about the park was the parking.  We had to park a half mile away from the visitor center/trailhead, and since I realize its silly to complain about your hike to the hike, let's move on...  The rest of the park was great!  A beautiful lake with kayaks and peddle boats  to rent.  Picnic pavilions all over the place.  Clean facilities, and some great trails.

Zoe wasn't as awesome as the day before at Sawnee, or even awesome at all.  She made it a smidge past the visitor center before refusing to budge.  Our bribe chocolate was no use.  When she took every opportunity to run back towards the cars, we put her in the carrier and trudged on.  Jeff carried her for a bit before declaring her too heavy, so I took her.  I'll just say it, I'm pretty baddass.  I carried her the rest of the way, and including our trek back to the car, it must have been 3.5 miles.  She's 63 lbs!  Badass, I say!

We took the red trail down and the white trail back.  The red was supposed to be easy, and it is for the first bit.  It takes you past the ruins of the textile mill that was burned during Sherman's march and left that way.  Interesting.  The trail runs right along the river, but past the mill it gets really hard and downright treacherous.  Up and over rocks where a slip could land you a nasty tumble into the river.  I trusted Ethan, but I wouldn't have if another kid had been along to encourage silliness.  With Zoe on my back, there were plenty of times we had to stop and figure out how we'd get over some of the trickier sections.  Jeff ended up pulling  us up some.  There are a few staircases to help you up and over some areas.  There was one point at the turn around, I scared Jeff and frankly myself for a minute.  I had clearly reached my cardiovascular limit.  (Zoe on my back + up hill+ uneven footing). We sat for a while and I tried not to lay down on the trail, though Lordy, that's what I wanted to do.

We had some chocolate and a little rest and then took the white trail back.  The whole white is a 5+ mile loop, that we will have to try again.  I think it's wide enough for Zoe's all terrain stroller.  At that point we were eager to get back and took the shorter route.

When we got back to the mill we met the sweetest couple.  Sometimes when Zoe sees people she just points and yells, "Hat!"  Or "Shoes!" Or ""purse!"  This lady had on a fun pink hat and was super nice about Zoe's pointing.  She also kept pointing at the man's camera, and saying, "cheese!"  He was kind enough to take her picture. We even exchanged email, so he could send me the picture later.  I love when people respond to Zoe so nicely. Seriously warms my heart.  I think most people just don't know what to do, and so don't do anything.  I don't fault them, but I love the ones that jump in with kindness.

Overall a great day.  I didnt get the laundry done, but the kids had fun, we got some exercise and Jeff rewarded my badassery by picking up my favorite dinner...Chipotle steak burrito bowl.  Yum!

The pictures are from my not impressive phone.  

Trail along the creek.

Ruins of the textile mill

Far enough out to make me nervous

The easy part of the red trail. 

Chocolate break

Jeff being silly.  You can see one of the staircases behind him.

The sweet couple we met.

The picture of Zoe they sent us.