The Green Belt

It was beautiful day so I took Ashlynn and Daniel down to the river to go feed the ducks. We were going to make a day of it by taking a picnic lunch, Ashlynn’s bike, and the big stroller. We had a slight detour due to the fact that I got a call from my neighbor just as we pulled in telling me that our dog, Casey, was chasing chickens around out backyard. Poor Ashlynn was almost in tears because we had to drive all the way back home, but she was pretty good about it in the end. After rescuing the chicken and detaining the mutt, we headed back to the river. I got the bright idea to park on the east side of the river and walk around to the west side where the ducks were. We made it a ways and I got hungry, so we stopped under some tall trees on a picnic table by the river and ate. I fixed yummy sandwiches, carrots with ranch dressing, yogurt smoothie for Ashlynn, cookies, and plums. We ate and then Daniel ate (he couldn’t be left out) and then loaded back up and kept on trekking. I think the only thing that kept Ashlynn from complaining was her desire to feed the ducks. We walked and walked and then crossed the river. About that time I got a hold of Scott who informed me that the loop we had taken was 3 miles. Oops.
  Daniel was fussier than Ashlynn and I ended up carrying him while pushing the stroller for a while. The things we do for our kids. We finally made it to where the ducks were and I plopped down and rested while Ashlynn chased them around with the bread.
 Once the bread was gone, we loaded up and set out again. This time Ashlynn didn’t have the pot of gold at the end of the tunnel as it were, and there was much more griping and complaining on the way back. I’ll give her some credit though. I think I would be sore, too, after biking almost 3 miles after haven’t having biked in months. But alas, we made it. We all took Tylenol upon arrival at home.