The Rolling Lane has been, well, rolling

And rolling all over as it turns out. After the Walk and Roll, the girls and I went to my cousin's wedding in DC (which was lovely and included seeing my brother for the first time in a long time - Happy Birthday Bill! and meeting his wonderful wife) , came home for the end of school hullabaloo, and headed back out to the DC area for a quick visit with friends (and a visit with A's pandas at the National Zoo) and a week of hiking in Shenandoah National Park.

I love hiking. I love being outside and wandering. I call it my german peasant walking gene (the love of walking seems to run in my family from grandfather to uncle to brother and me). I've had dreams of backpacking the Appalachian trail, and this time we walked sections of it for a couple miles at a time. That used to be my version of doing something that would be very hard, yet very rewarding. I still think that, but have opted for other activities that don't take a month to complete! (Besides those packs are really heavy!).

This is our fourth "nature" vacation and the first in which I felt I earned my hiking boots (a pair of Vasques which I love!). We've been to the Tetons/Yellowstone, Glacier, Olympic and Shenandoah National Parks. This year we took 3 hour hikes on average, which after breakfast, driving to the hike, getting lunch and getting back turned out to be all day affairs. And climbed and descended a fair amount on very rocky trails. (That's where really liking the hiking boots comes in). The girls have become quite intrepid, but we still use "energy pills" aka skittles to motivate. Shenandoah is very accessible with lots of trails in a small area. What it's lacking in water (I missed the lakes and streams of mountains out west) it makes up for with rocky outcroppings and views that even a 7 year old can appreciate.

Some other hiking tips with kids: don't fret if they wear the same filthy clothes several days in a row, it just makes them look like the 20something backpackers. Enjoy the 32 visits to the lodge gift shop, make friends with the cashier! Hot chocolate for breakfast? Every day? sure! Encourage the eating of exactly the same food for 11 of 12 breakfasts/lunches (G ate a hamburger every meal but one, when she had ribs). Count the animals, kids love animals (we saw 3 bears, 1 bobcat, 50+ deer and spotted fawns, a snake and a toad). Oh, and I have I mentioned liberal use of skittles?

It was great fun, and we saw no kids on any of the trails, although there were some at the lodge. Take your kids hiking! They can't play with electronics, read a book or otherwise ignore you. Especially if you are holding the skittles!