Labor Day: A New Tradition

Bret and I tend to avoid crowds. We suffer through them from time to time, but if polled, crowd avoidance would be high on our list of "agreed upon marital tenants." We don't like large parties. We don't like traffic. We don't--despite the next two big trips we have planned to the contrary--like touristy areas. We're okay to lay low.

So, it came as a surprise to both of us that on Labor Day morning we woke up and thought, "state park," almost in unison. Nothing is more crowded than a park on Labor Day, and in Indiana, there is almost no better (read: more popular; read: more crowded) park than Turkey Run.

So, despite common sense, we packed a picnic, put the kids in grubby hiking clothes and headed out early in hopes of beating the crowd.

And the amazing part: we did! The kids hiked, climbed, stomped in creeks for about 2.5 miles, up and down and up again with little to no complaining (and only one near-death experience).

Turkey Run is an Indiana treasure, and we head there often (less than an hour away, after all), but this particular Labor Day morning was even more perfect than usual: cool weather, healthy kids and crowd-less for most of the morning.

I think we have a new tradition...

Throughout the hike (notice all of Grant's karate moves...)
Grace didn't like the suspension bridge (but, Grant was on his way to help)

And, how can a day get any better when this kind of stuff happens spontaneously and without Mommy intervention?