Hinckley Reservation.

So!  My ankle.  Yeah... I sprained it.  ish.  Nothing too crazy just missed a step and twisted it all to hell.  Sleep deprivation is most assuredly to blame and not my own klutzyness.  AHEM.  Anyways I've been babying it since it happened including all day Saturday when we all stayed home so that I could rest my foot.  Then Sunday morning everyone in my house was in a foul mood.  The kids were picking at each other and everyone was whiny and bored.  I looked outside at the beautiful, sunny and 60's weather, and decided "eff this noise.  My ankle will be fine.  We're going outside somewhere pretty!"

ROCKS WATER.

The last time we were at Hinckley Reservation we were training for Peru.  So... yeah.  Awhile ago.  Then we were doing serious hiking - up to Whipps Ledges and through the surrounding hills.  This time we started at the spillway:

I apologize for the suckiness of the pictures.

Which is PERFECT for little kids.  Lots to do, water that's not that deep or with that great of a current, ducks to chase, bathrooms, lifeguards, and you can see the entire area from basically anywhere you sit.  Perfect:

Although next time I will make sure that the kids have their bathing suits on BEFORE they go near the water.  Wading in 60 degree weather for an adult does not involve getting soaked from head to toe:

Not so much for kids.  Heh.

Anyways after a picnic lunch my ankle was feeling pretty decent (ibuprofen FTW!)  so we headed to the ledges:

The kids loved it.  They like hiking and the woods in general but throw in the option to CLIMB ROCKS and it's just about the best time ever.  The dude literally climbed over every single rock in his path:

kindof like an iguana.

And when he saw some guys actually rock climbing he was all "THAT GUY UP THERE.  CLIMB ROCKS. OH WOOOOOOW."

They were also pretty into the little caves / crevasses in the rocks and thinking of all of the things that might be in there:

Both of the big kids were troopers - walking the entire hike themselves.  We want to go back sometime when my foot is in better shape so that we can take them all the way up on top of the ledges.  Until then, though, this was a great introduction to the area. And a really nice day out with our family:

I posted this pic to FB yesterday with the caption: "Just taking out 4yo, 2yo, and 6week old rock scrambling.  NBD"  I"m hoping people got the sarcasm because this was a Really. Big. Deal.

The dude was asleep before we even left the ledges area:

And the girl hasn't stopped talking about it since.  Yay for getting out and about with our family again!