- We climbed a mountain!
We climbed Mt. Daniel in Pender Harbour, a hike we’ve done several times before. This time Peter and I decided we were going to encourage Rose to hike as much of it as she could. Rose is 3 and a half and a perfectly capable walker and hiker. But she loves to be carried and usually ends up riding in the kid backpack. If I’m being honest, we often give in to end the whining. This time, we planned ahead, and set timers and landmarks and used some motivational treats along the way. And Rose made it! It took an hour and forty-five minutes up to the peak (it usually would take 45-60 minutes) but she made it. At the time she told me, “I’m proud of myself” and we are so proud of her too. (Peter carried her on the way down.)
It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day and we stopped for lunch in Madeira Park (Triple B’s makes the best burgers on the Coast, if you’re ever in that neighbourhood) and playtime at the park.
- On my way out the door I snapped this picture of my hiking boots:
- We topped off our day with a hot dog roast at the beach with friends. Now that we’re allowed to gather (outdoors) with others again, we are thrilled to be able to meet and play with our friends and neighbours who were in our bubble last year.
- These sisters. It’s been so nice for them to have time together all day over spring break. Yes, we mediate a lot of disagreements but they love being together and I love their friendship.
When they watch anything, they always seem to sit as close as possible to each other! 
- Peter and I finished the second season of The Mandalorian this week and have started re-watching the most recent trilogy. I haven’t seen Episode IX so we’ve started with Episode VII, which we watched when it was released.
- And a few random snapshots from the week:
Karissa Reads Books 
OH, goodness! My very first question was going to be, “How much did Peter end up carrying the kids?” I’m glad little Rose made it up all by herself. To be fair, my Nick usually ends up pulling my hand when we go up a sand dune. They’re practically vertical. Check out this image: https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/54e5314492452506bd8f1fda403c0038352d0826/c=0-222-2400-1578/local/-/media/2016/08/26/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/636078056956339542-Sleeping-Bear.jpg
The accompanying article is actually about how it can cost $2,000 to save you if you can’t get back up.
Whoa, that looks so cool! But I could see how getting up wouldn’t be easy. We figured it would actually be harder for Rose coming down because there are sections with some loose rock and slippery rocks so you have to be careful where you step.
The issue with the sand dunes is that it’s really fun to go down at top speed. I still remember when we had a foreign exchange student from Brazil who happily went down (despite our warnings) and when he came up to the top, he crawled in the back of our SUV and was positive he was going to die. Just intense muscle cramping and stomach issues from the massive climb.
Oh man, that sounds fun and awful! In my more reckless days some friends and I used to go to this book sand pile (manmade, not a real dune) and bring crazy carpets to slide down. Then someone broke their leg and the company who owned the property put up a fence and hired a security guard.
LOL! Karissa! This is a version of you I had not imagined 😂
It was a loooong time ago!
Ooh, yay for Rose climbing the mountain! That sounds like such an accomplishment for her, and it just warmed my heart to read that she was proud of herself, too. 🙂 Also, I lol’d at the involvement of motivational treats, I feel that I will have to work that part into my hiking routine in the future, haha. Snacks have such power!