A Walk in the Woods and a Swim in the River

A few weekends ago our little family headed back to one of our favorite places, Eno River State Park.  It's only about half an hour from our house, and it's beautiful.  Before we had kids, we would go and hike around all day, letting Rip dip himself in the river and chase sticks along the way.  Now, we don't quite make the distance that we used to make, but we still have a great time. 

Evan is beginning to be a good little hiker.  On this hike we had to head down quite a few steps to get to the river.  He was a trooper and walked the whole way.  He waited until we could actually see the cars on the way back to say that he was too tired to go on and needed to be picked up. 

(Evan waving goodbye to us as he forges out ahead on the trail)

So, our little family hiked down the stairs down to the river, Evan trotting along next to us, Ben in the carrier on Ian or I's chest, and Ripple running out in front of us as far as he could go until his extendable leash reached its limit and snatched him back.  Everyone but Ben was excited to see the river.  Evan and Ripple just stepped right in.  I was a little worried about Evan walking on all of those slippery rocks, but Ian stayed right next to him and made sure he didn't fall in. 

Meanwhile, Ripple turns into a maniac whenever he's at the river.  He prances and whines and dances around until we throw a stick into the river for him.  Nine times out of ten he can't even find the stick, and sometimes he still swim after it far enough into the river that the current catches him and we have to reel him back in with the leash.  We like to call this practice, "fishing for poodles".  He absolutely loves it.

(Throwing rocks into the water and fishing for poodles)

So, we played in the river for a bit and then hiked up on a suspension bridge over the river.  I honestly thought Evan would be more interested in this than he was.  Ripple just cowered and slunk over the bridge which was wobbling far too much for the small dog.  After our bridge adventure we did a bit more splashing, and Ben and I took a little tine for a solo hike on a short trail through the woods. 

(Ian and Evan cross the bridge.)

(Ben and I on our little hike--okay, okay, he slept the whole way, but I enjoyed it.  I thought this wasn't bad for a picture I took myself.)

The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and we're looking forward to our next excursion in the great outdoors.  The only part I'm not looking forward to is the clean up.  I've learned that the Davis family must keep many towels in the trunk at all times just to be prepared!