Glorious Day!

Well, we finally had a day worth of the title "Vacation"!

First off, the weather is beautiful. 78 degrees, nice breeze, sunny. You couldn't ask for a better day!

We started off the day at Cooper's Rock. It's a pretty cool place really, but I wasn't sure what the kids would think. Turns out they loved it. Jordan found a big hole right away. He thinks a giant mole rat lives there. I don't even know what a mole rat is, but that's one big hole.

(Umm, what's up the the socks? He is so going to hate the picture when he is 20! I refuse to fight with my kids over reasonable clothes choices though....so this is what you get!)



My nature loving husband was very unsure about this whole thing. But he humored me...holding tightly to Celia's hand and telling Jordan "get off that rock, you're going to fall" a million times. But by the time we got to scenic overlook, he loosened up a little.



Here's the north-east view of the mountains. My personal favorite.



The south-west view.



A little zoom on the south-west view and you can see Morgantown. The big white spike is the tower at the airport.



Much to my husband's dismay, I insisted on continuing down the trail. He has bad memories form being lost there once. Both of the kids loved "rock climbing".


Jordan takes on the bigger rocks.



We steer Celia toward some her size. Mom helps her with the big ones....the trail down to the bottom isn't exactly a stroll....but you don't need a rope for it either!


Here's Celia and me under the big rock. Chris wouldn't go anywhere near it. You know, it's been there for hundreds of years and all the sudden he things it's going to break away while he's there (please don't mention Seneca Rock, he doesn't need anything else to worry about!)

The green blur is Jordan.



Looking up at the overlook from the first turn below. I was hoping to take the kids down a little more, but as we stood there looking up, Celia says "Mom, I have to pee!" and before I can find her a tree, she said "Ooop, I peed"



So we started back to the car for a clean change of clothes and lunch!



Lunch could not have worked out better. I wasn't extremely motivated and had packed nothing. I figured we'd just drive back to Burger King if we needed to (yeah , I'm a real outdoorsy girl!). But on the way down the trail we noticed that the concession stand served food (not just snacks) AND they accepted Visa check card (because us city dwellers don't carry cash!).

Chris was very excited because the listed sloppy joes on the menu. There's not much I refuse to cook, but that's one of them. Anyway, the four of us all got lunch for under $10! And we were stuffed, couldn't even finish out nachos. Chris was hoping to go back for a hot dog, but he just couldn't do it.

We also wanted to check out Chestnut Ridge Park. It's right by Cooper's Rock, and I heard they had swimming and a play area.

We were pleasantly surprised, it was very nice. Now, I wouldn't call it a lake (they do) it's more of a pond, but there's a sandy swimming area, fishing (you don't need a license...it's catch and release, stocked every spring) and paddle boats.


I had no plans of getting in...because I thought it was a little chilly. But the kids got changed (and Chris, because he thought I was nuts to allow our toddler to play within arm's reach of us...in the WATER. Dude, I would totally jump in with my clothes on if needed!) and Celia walked right up to the lake and peed.

I would never let me kid pee in a pool. She totally knows better. But this girl is just one with nature and really enjoys peeing on natural things outside. Trees, rocks, lakes....they all get a surprise from my girl. I don't think anyone saw it.

After the unfortunate peeing, the kids got in. Chris balked for a minute ("but look at it! There's no chemicals in there honey".......) but then he discovered there were minnows and salamanders and a fabled 2 ft carp that occasionally will swim right up to the swim area.


After a few hours of swimming, (not really, since Jordan can walk all the way out to the rope, and the "baby" rope only puts the water at Celia's knees....perfect for kids!) They decided to get a paddle boat.



That was about it. We spent another half an hour playing on the playground (very nice) and then loaded up the car. It was nap time. The best part about this part is that it's only 35 minutes from Fairmont, so it's not like I have to sleep in a tent (gasp!) or anything to enjoy it. I like my nature in bits and pieces, during the day. But they do have camping at both Cooper's Rock and Chestnut Ridge Park.

We will be frequenting the park this summer. Erm....free swimming, nice playground, not very many people. I love it. The also have an awesome hill that they do sledding on in the winter, so I'm already excited to check that out come December!