Mud Dog and Mud Boys

As soon as winter started to release us from its grip, our family was ready to get back out into the great outdoors.  So, on a beautiful weekend day we headed up to one of our favorite outdoor haunts, the Eno River!  It has got to be Rip's favorite place in the world, so of course he had to come along.  The particular section of the Eno that we went to that day had all sorts of fun things to explore.  We crossed over the wobbly suspension bridge which made the kiddos a little nervous and the dog a lot nervous.  Then, we gave everyone a little chance to play in the shallows.  It was still far to cold to let them in the water, but that didn't stop Rip from trying to hop in and fetch sticks.

They boys and the dog could have stayed at the shore for the whole adventure, but we dragged them away to do more exploring.  We ran through the historic cabin, hiding in the rooms, and walked a little while down the trail.  I have to say that hikes really aren't as long as they used to be.  The boys have to stop every three seconds to explore something.  They especially liked a little creek we found meandering across the path.  They enjoyed creating and destroying little dams across the stream.

We didn't make it too far before Ian's stomach started hurting from his recent surgery and the boys' whining started to pick up volume, so we turned back to do a little more creek exploring and river wading.  By the time we got back to the car both boys and the dog were so coated with mud that we wondered how we were going to get them in the car.  The dog was wrapped in many, many towels, and the boys were striped practically naked, so we managed to get everyone home without too much mud in my car.

It was a great first taste of the outdoors, and we can't wait until the weather warms up and we get to head back out to explore and get a little dirty!

(crossing the wobbly suspension bridge)

(poodle heaven)

(Yay, river!)

(one filthy poodle)

(two filthy, happy little boys)