WOW

Sometimes my kids say and do things that remind me that I'm missing out on something.  This weekend we went on another camping trip to the Hocking Hills area.  I have been to this area many times, from when I was a young child.  There are many great trails and hikes with lots of beautiful sites.  As we walked down into the Old Man's Cave area and the rock formations opened up all around us, I saw Eli, mouth gaping open, eyes huge, say, "WOW!!!"  It was the first time in his memory he's seen anything even close to the magnitude of that scene, and he responded appropriately.  So why don't I look at that scene and think WOW?  I've been blessed to see many amazing and beautiful sites in my life.  Somewhere along the way, the wow factor dropped off for me...I certainly recognize the beauty of the site, even now, and I acknowledge the amazing creation that I am seeing...but I lost the awe.

Our second camping trip went a lot more smoothly than the first!  Everything felt easier.  It was still a lot of work, but we had developed some systems and had some help from friends!  Our kids had an absolute BLAST, and I was so glad we went.  We only had a little bit of rain, so it was much more manageable than the last trip.  Aside from the ridiculous number of mosquito bites we all came home with, everyone seems to be fairly well recovered already.

Hiking at Rockbridge in Hocking Hills.

Daniel, "hiking" in style.