Thomas the Trailblazer

Thomas and I had a fantastic day. We met up with some of our MOMS Club friends and went for a hike on Slick Rock Trail. It was awesome. The weather was perfect. It was nice and warm and a little breezy, but not too hot. We have never hiked this trail before and were really looking forward to it. Every other time our group has gone, it has been in the afternoon and too close to the time I need to leave for work. Needless to say, I was really excited to be going, but was a little worried about how Thomas would do because this trail is not stroller friendly, and he would have to walk the whole way.

But, Thomas was an amazing little boy today. He ran ahead of the whole group down the entire trail, as if he had been there a hundred times before. When we got to the rocks that you can climb on, he scurried up like a professional rock climber.

I was completely impressed with him. Although, it scares me as a mother that he is so completely fearless, I am also a little in awe of him. I no longer have the bravery to just run up a mountainside without worrying about falling down. That is one of the great joys of motherhood - being able to see things through the eyes of your child. You get to have experiences that feel completely new because they are new to him.

Thomas and one of his friends were really excited when they discovered a little "cave" to explore. His friend was so excited to be smashing pine cones on the ground. He even offered one up to Thomas for him to try and eat.

I am grateful on days like this that I live an area of the country where I am able to go to places such as this in less than a half hour's drive from my house. We had a such a great time. I am looking forward to returning to this trail with my husband and have a nice family day out.

After we got done hiking, we still had a whole list of errands to run and it was getting close to nap time.

First stop: Walmart. I had bought some juniper plants for our front yard. Unfortunately, I found out that I am allergic to juniper, so we had to return them. So, after we had finished with our return we went to buy some groceries.

Second and third stop: Frys and Safeway. We are trying to live on a pretty tight budget, so I typically grocery shop at all three places (just not always on the same day). Today, we were going to all three places.

Thomas behaved really well at all three stores. That may not sound like a big deal, but lately, going shopping with Thomas has landed us both home in tears after a very stressful time together. He didn't complain about riding in the shopping cart. He wasn't begging for me to buy him things. He wasn't pulling things off the shelf and throwing him on the ground.

I was really proud of him today.