Labor Day Shinanagins

Today was a wonderful day!  We went into NoPo and ate at Po'Shines Cafe de la Soul.  Mike is a big fan of Southern fare, so he was pretty happy about the whole experience.  The food was great, but the wait time was ridiculous.  They blamed having a new cook.  Nice excuse, right?

This kid was great though.  He discovered watermelon.  Or "wah-mehn" as Mike likes to say in a hick accent.

 

Here is Horsetail Falls.  

Why is it when we try to take a family picture, none of our kids look at the camera?

Mike said, "Will you take some shots of me by the waterfall?"  I was like, "uh....okay."  And then he went and showed me his best "senior pose." 

I was already laughing pretty hard.  And then he got sexy with it.  Hahaha. 

My turn. 

 

After Horsetail Falls we went to hike Oneonta Gorge.  We had the youngest kids in their hiking packs and ready to go.  Then we realized it wasn't going to be easy.  You have to climb up a steep, slippery rock and a HUGE, unstable logjam and walk through some torso deep water before finally finding the beautiful waterfall prize at the end.  Not only did we think it would be difficult with the kids on our backs, but I didn't see a way for our 5 year old to make it through the high parts of the water without struggling.  And to be honest, that water was ice COLD.     

Not wanting to waste our chance of experiencing the hike, Mike and I decided to take turns hiking it while the kids played on the beach.  It was only about 20-25 to the waterfall and back so it worked out for us.  It was sad that we couldn't hike it together or as a family, but whaddayagonnado?  The only thing I regret is scraping my leg on a giant stick while wading through the water.  Yah, that's gonna leave a mark. 

 

It bruised up quite nicely.  Here it is about a week later starting to heal.  

 

Was it worth the hike?  Definitely YES.