Hiking for Happiness: Our New Sunday Normal

I love hiking!  I love exploring and being in nature.  I could spend all day in the forest, if the kids let me and if there weren't so many ticks and mosquitos. While in social isolation other than bike riding, another way that we get out of the house is by walking around our house and straight into the forest directly behind our house.  Just as much as biking chases the isolation blues away, so does going for a quick hike.  Hiking is for sure my happy place, not so much all the kids, but they always entertain me.  They are good for a short 30 minute walk in the forest, but the wanderlust in me wants to explore.  The mountains behind our house is filled with countless trails and hiking options.  

Just in the last month we have found about 8 trails directly from our house.  The most common trail we go on is, what we have named, The Fallen Tree Trail. A little less then a mile from our house is a beautiful trail that passes a lake and then we pass a huge fallen tree that the kids always walk over.  It's fun seeing their different personalities as they walk across the bridge.  Big Sis and M&M will go as far as they can.  Little A is always apprehensive and won't go unless someone else is on the tree.  And then we have Monster, who surprisingly isn't very daring and upright refuses to go out on the tree and I have to hold both his hands and almost make him try something a little scary and new.

Another trail that explores the left side of our mountain we have named, "The Spooky Tree Trail".  This trail has about what seems like half the forest trees all fallen down.  The first time we went on the trail, it was super windy so the small trees were rubbing against each other and they were making crazy creeping noises.  Some of the trees had fallen and created a teepee, or other cool formations.  This is actually my favorite trail. It ends up shooting you out onto this super long dirt trail that one day we will take our mountain bikes on.  

The largest trail is more of a back road.  This trail has the most options for exploring more and more trails.  We have explored a few of them.  One trail actually leads to these super old Pagan Rocks and a sacred river.  There are huge rocks along the way too, which we found out have the option to repel and rock climb with eyelet holes.  There are a few lakes that we have explored too.  It has been fun seeing the forest go from just trees in the winter, to growing buds and leaves in the spring.

Since the kids don't love hiking as much as I do, we have this silent agreement, that if I don't ask to hike too much during the week, they don't complain when we go on our Sunday weekly hikes, which we usually take after we do our current home-centered sacrament meeting.  I absolutely loving being out in nature on Sunday.  I love the sound of the wind and the birds.  I love being in God's country and appreciating the beautiful Earth he has blessed us with.  I love having picnics and reading books with the kids in the forest.  I also love just being out of the house.  We have been so blessed to live in such a beautiful place whiling having to be in social isolation.  It is a blessing to have fresh air and to have such beautiful weather and a beautiful forest so close.  I love Germany so much, and I love living here.