Elk Creek Falls

Today was a beautiful day, and we decided to get out of town! We hit Elk Creek Falls after a quick post-church lunch (Phil made his famous turkey sandwiches). The boys were troopers, and insisted on hiking by themselves most of the way--Deacon only asked, "Daddy pack me puh-leazzzzze" on the home stretch. As we walked Deacon took on the role of morale-booster, and peppered our walk with outbursts of, "Good walking Mommy!" "Let's use our strong legs!" "I'm brave and strong!"
We took that path that leads straight from the upper falls to view the middle falls, and Bryce gallantly had me hold one end of his walking stick to keep me steady. It was a quite a steep little trail, and Deacon was thrilled when we reached the sure-footing stretch, and he could walk on his own.
As we drove home I asked the boys what their favorite parts of the hike were. Bryce bellowed, "the sticks!" He'd spent the entire hike swapping out walking sticks for bigger and better ones, until his last giant stick wore his little arms out and he returned to a more reasonably sized one--you know, just as long as he is tall, instead of one that dragged ten feet behind him.
Next time we'll bring our suits!