nature hike

The day after Thanksgiving, Kaden got sick.

And since we had little else to do, I decided to take the girls out for some outdoor hiking while Mitch rested at home with Kaden.

I took them to Moanalua Valley...it's a fairly long trail that bisects the entire island...but we only went about a  mile in, and then came back.

 Here we are at the trail head.

Thank goodness we remembered to bring the insect repellent.  

Mosquitoes EVERYWHERE!

 The girls with their walking sticks.

Jojo checking out the huge trees overhead.

 Some historic stops here and there...there was even an old cottage-but the trail was a bit overgrown and looked muddy so we passed.  I think looking at the trees was enough for my girls.  :)

 Oh, and carving their names in the muddy ground.

 See?  Mud.

 Me with Kela and Jojo. 

Anna was behind the camera.  

 On the way back, I noticed a rope swing someone had made out of a hanging vine!!

  Kela on the vine...

And even me...

Jojo wasn't into swinging from any vines so I forced convinced her to pose on this rock.

She looks scared, right?  She was.

The playground here was run down and falling apart, so they played around on the exercise equipment for a bit before heading back home.  Moanalua Valley trail was at the very end of a residential road, way off the beaten path...it was nice and quiet and peaceful!  Except for the creepy dude hanging out at the picnic tables that kept trying to talk to us.  We stayed for only a couple of minutes before booking it out of there...can't be too careful around weirdo strangers, right?

But all in all, it was a nice and relaxing hike for the girls and I got to spend some quality time just us girls.