Shenandoah Mountain

Today we took advantage of "Fee Free Weekend" at the National Parks and went to the Shenandoah National Park, which is about 20 miles west of where we live. We enjoyed driving along Skyline Drive and we finally put Josh's "Hiking Shenandoah National Park" guide to use. We hiked 2 different trails that ended in mountaintop overlooks. Josh and the kids "scrambled" to the top on both mountains--made mommy nervous. Of course, being the rookies we are, we didn't bring any food or snacks, just a big camelback and a bunch of water. Luckily, there was a restaurant/store in the park near where we hiked. We were really proud of the kids. The first hike (1.3 miles to Black Rock Summit) was rated as "Easy" and it was. The second hike, Josh and the kids wanted to do a longer hike, so we hiked 2.2 miles to the top of Turk Mountain. It was rated as "moderate". Turns out "moderate" is more like "strenuous/extremely challenging" for 5-7 year olds! I was wearing my Heartrate monitor and my heartrate was running around 135-140 during the uphill climbs. It took us almost 2 hours to hike that 2.2 miles, but they did it and we were all worn out. Jessica fell asleep on the way home, but we woke her up with a Sonic slushie. We can't wait to take some of you back to the Shenandoah's. It was amazing.

Lets go---- at the start of the trail--our first family hike

Friends have been asking to see my Belly--well here is a posed picture of my big belly... I have about 10 more weeks to go

Me and Johnathan on top of Black Rock Mountain

Jessica, the great adventurer, on her way to Mt. Everest!

A cave on Turk Mountain. The kids went in there...

Josh and Johnathan out on Turk Mountain