Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked (and walked, and walked, and walked)

Last week while Big Guy was away at Chess Camp, Miss G and Little Guy and I decided to go to the dairy to visit the cows and get some milk. On our way, we stopped at Lake Shawnee to take a little walk. I figured (silly, silly Mommy) that we wouldn't walk far, so I wouldn't worry about taking the stroller (or water, or decent walking shoes!). The walking trail is marked out in quarter mile increments, so I told the kids we'd walk a half mile to the first set of swings:


Great fun was had by all. Miss G then asked to keep walking ahead instead of turning back. I warned that, of course, every step we took away from the car would mean a longer walk back, but the general concensus was to press forward, so we decided to walk to the next quarter mile marker. We got there, and as we were about to turn around, the kids saw this in the distance:

WAY off in the distance. Well, you can't see a playground and NOT walk there, so away we went! Of course, walking a mile in sockless crocs means that you start to get blisters before even arriving at the playground! But we made it, and made some new friends there, and played for awhile.

Then, of course, came the dreaded mile walk back to the car. Next time we go for a walk, even if no one wants it, needs it or asks for it, WE ARE BRINGING THE STROLLER! We made it without TOO much whining with lots of games of "I Spy" as well as countless primary songs, real and imagined (we re-imagined The Handcart song: When Kensingers walk to the park, we hope to make it home by dark, we walk in barefoot all along, and as we walk we sing this song...).

Big Guy, meanwhile, was having a blast at chess camp. I drove to Lindsborg to pick him up on Friday, getting there for the tail end of the awards ceremony. Here he is with Grand Master Akobian, who was one of their instructors:

After we got him checked out of the dorm, he wanted to show me around the town, and the weather was gorgeous, so off we went. Lindsborg is a really lovely little town which was founded by a Swedish community, and the influence is still very strong. The downtown area is populated by little Swedish horse statues called Dala, which are decorated in various ways. Big Guy's favorite:

Was, of course, called the "Dolla" Dala!

And after stopping to get a Hawaiian Ice (not very Swedish, but another tradition of chess club participants!) we had another Pioneer Children moment as we walked and walked and walked back to the car!

And then, reunited at last!

We lasted a whole ten minutes before the screaming began! But at least for the moment, my little family is back under one roof again!