Hocking Hills

We took our annual trip to Hocking Hills this past week and wondered why we go annually.

We really should be going monthly!

It is a beautiful state park and just soaking in the scenery and breathing the air there soothes my soul.

Of course, the whole outing wasn’t soul-soothing…

… There was the time when the kiddos whipped off their shoes and socks and ventured into the freezing lake

… And the times my heart almost failed me watching Mackenzie climbing on rocks following after her much more rough-and-tumble friend.

… And the time we hoofed it on a 2 1/2 mile hike to make it back to the parking lot for our friend’s conference call with three minutes to spare.

(no picture here… I was too busy hoofing)

The rest of us spent the entire hour of the conference call scrounging up matches and scraps of paper to come up with a way to light our charcoal for s’mores. We nearly passed out from all the blowing on the coals, but the golden mallows were worth it.

And, the perfect end to the perfect day: We were pulled over by a park ranger when we finally started heading home for the night. Apparently 9:30pm qualifies as the “dark” the park is closed after. Good thing he only had a stun gun.

Mackenzie’s friend was still awake and charmed the ranger into flashing his lights again so he could admire them. (Yeah, we didn’t get a ticket.)

Both girls passed out in the car long before the fire was lit and missed the ranger excitement completely. Ah well, there’s always next month!

Her bucktoothed smile just melts my insides.

Mackenzie and her buddy:

Look closely and you’ll see Scott and Mackenzie way back underneath Old Man’s Cave:

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