Haley’s Intro to Trail Running

Well, not actually trail “running” per se, but Will wanted to go trail running and I needed a “recovery day” after running 12 miles yesterday so I opted to hike with Haley in the back pack while Will ran.  We were a little hesitant and unsure of how Haley would tolerate the pack.  We have only used it a handful of times and the last time we tried to use it it was a big fat FAIL.  But we decided to be strong and try something new and push Haley a little bit past her comfort zone. 

As we suspected she initially rejected the idea, but we strapped her in anyway, gave her a fig newton and sang her favorite songs “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “Wheels on the Bus” and she calmed down within a few minutes.  Will took off and left us quickly and Haley was a little skeptical of the woods once it got a little darker and thicker.  I distracted her with more songs and asking her to play with my hair.  Pretty soon she started pointing to trees and grabbing at leaves. 

  We got to the Lake Trail and started finding some interesting things.  The geese got an enthusiastic “wow” from Haley and then a few “d, d, d” sounds…her version “duck”.  We also came across some frogs jumping in the lake and a man fishing.  She was starting to enjoy the ride. 

Then Haley finally snagged a leaf and was counting the points on it, she thought that was pretty funny. 

But shortly after she began to get antsy and wanting out.  We made it about a mile and a half I’m guessing (about 30 minutes).  We are really happy that she enjoyed herself not knowing what to expect with out first nature outing.  Hopefully as she gets older we can instill in her a love for nature and one day turn her into a trail runner LOL.