Breakheart Reservation

Jen made me a deal that if I let her sleep in on Saturday morning, she'd clean the kitchen.  So at 7:15am when the boys woke up, we had our oatmeal, got dressed, and went out hiking/geocaching at Breakheart just North of Boston.  I had only been there once, but never exploring.   This serves as a photo journal of our morning adventure on Saturday.

Ian took my picture with Blake.  I kind of have to put myself wherever he's pointing. :)

We found a geocache.  Good reason to stop and have a break, eh?

Ian was surprised to see this car on top of Breakheart Hill.  I was too... but with a straight six like that, how could it not make it?

This is how Blake got forward looks strapped to my back.  And that's the vein the Red Cross sometimes uses to take my blood.

This is how you grow crows feet.  Contort your face in as many ways as possible, and the wrinkles will just stick.

I am surprised that Ian looks like he's 22 in this picture.  While I am plenty eager to go on adventures with a man-son, I am happy to have my little boy for now!

Note:  As soon as we sat down at the top of the hill, Blake insisted that for his break to be official, he needed to take off his socks and shoes.  So be it.  I'm sure the granola bar tasted better with the breeze between his toes.

Hydration is especially important when you are strapped to someone's back.

Here's an action shot while hiking down the paved trail.  Okay, so it's in the suburbs, not in the mountains.  It's close to home, though, and has plenty of miles of trail!

The boys at the Upper Lake.

Blake thinking, "Dad, I want to go splash in that..." and it wasn't too long after the click of the shutter that I had to quickly prevent such fun.  I don't mind splashing, but it would help if he had a bit better balance first.

Here's Blake receiving wisdom from heaven.  Or at least a very interesting camera shot with glare.

Ian thought this flume was awesome.  Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, it connects the upper lake to the lower lake.  He gave me the grand tour of where the water goes.  Smart kid!

This is several miles into the hike.  Turns out when a 5 1/2 year old hits his limit of walking, he starts crawling.  I guess I had forgotten that, since we haven't done much hiking this year.  Last year, we had vanilla wafers to keep the feet motivated.

And here are the happy hikers just before the home stretch back to the car.  Some of us are more alert than others.