About a month ago, we welcomed a new baby girl into our family. After the first couple weeks of adjusting to our new normal as a family of four, we realized we were getting pretty antsy just sitting around the house all day. Not to mention, our two year old was bouncing off the walls…
We always get outside for a couple hours each day, but the backyard was starting to get a little boring so we decided to set off on a mini-adventure to a nearby Little Traverse Conservancy property.
It takes some strategizing to wrangle our two year-old, get the baby into the carseat, grab snacks, put shoes on, and get out the door. Luckily, it was my husband’s day off, so between the two of us, we only struggled a little bit. We headed out to the Wilson Working Forest Reserve, off of Middle Road. Less than 2 miles from our house, it seemed like a good place to start.
Once we got to the parking lot, we put the baby in the carrier, re-tied the two year-old’s shoes for the 15th time and set off. The trail is a little over one mile and winds through a mix of open fields and old wooded logging trails. It has the perfect amount of ups and downs to tire out the toddler and some really cool views of farm land and forest. As a bonus, its not as well known as some of the other preserves in the area, so we usually have the trails to ourselves. Although we didn’t hike very far, we took our time to check out almost every flower, stick, and creature that we came across. We spotted a ton of birds, bugs, frogs, and even a snake. By the time we made it back to the car, everyone was tired, happy, and excited for the next family hike. It’s easy to take it for granted, but we have so many cool spots like this right out the back door.
-Steph
