Great Falls and the Shenandoah

Last weekend when Jeff's little brother Doug and his wife Amy came to visit for a few days, we spent a lot of time outside at Great Falls Nat'l Park and in the Shenandoah Nat'l Park. It was Garrett's first time to Great Falls and his first reaction was "Who put so much soap in that water?" I guess to a 4 year old, the falls look like one big bubble bath! Then, of course, he wanted to throw rocks in the water.

Jeff and Garrett LOVE to be outside hiking and scrambling around the rocks and, while I enjoy it too, it's much more fun to watch the 2 of them. Garrett is so determined to keep up with dad and is getting pretty independent. Thankfully, he still wants help once in awhile.

In the Shenandoah, we hiked down to Dark Hollow Falls. It's a beautiful hike to a waterfall that we've done the last couple years when we go camping up there. This time Jeff took Garrett with him up on top of the falls. Amy took a picture of them looking down the falls, but it makes me a little sick to look at it (not sure if that's because of pregnancy or being a protective mom). Instead I'm posting a side view of them that she took which really does nothing to show how high up they are, but at least I won't be sick looking at it. On the hike back up Garrett was very concerned about a "very sad" rock. He didn't even want to touch it at first--it looked like it was crying because of the steady, but light flow of water running down the face. Then he became convinced that he could help it feel better and be happy. We even attracted an audience of fellow hikers who were talking to him about the sad rock. (Really, I think we all just wanted a reason to rest from the steep hike.) The hike back was also broken up with stops to collect and throw rocks in the little river that flows along the trail.

Of course, any trip out to the Shenandoah requires a long car ride, but we managed to have a good time. Garrett constantly reminded Doug and Amy that this was their chance to talk to him. And we stopped at the Apple House in Front Royal for fresh baked apple donuts--YUMMY! On the way home Amy and Garrett got a little silly with Amy's camera and really had some fun! Who knew that a 3 hour car ride was the perfect place for a photo shoot!