As Good as it Can Be

Yesterday Mindy and our Grover cousins joined the boys and I for a bike ride along the river where the kids collected rocks, sticks, leaves, and seeds to fufill a scavenger hunt complete with prizes and goodies. Afterwards, Ryan asked us whether our outing had been successful. Mindy and I both looked at each other and shrugged, unsure how to answer the question. On the one hand, it was a beautiful spring afternoon, the scenery was lovely, the kids enjoyed being outdoors and burning energy, and Mindy and I enjoyed one another's company. On the other hand, it required complete concentration to keep the kids safe beside the river, pushing double strollers while doling out snacks and picking up dropped objects was tiring, and just simply keeping everyone happy was a trying test of patience. I think I ended up responding to Ryan's questions with something like, "it was as good as it could be." And isn't that the truth? That's how I'm feeling about life right now. It's not great, it's not perfect, it's not easy...it's as good as it can be. The fact is that having four kids (soon-to-be-five) makes everything, even the most basic of tasks, just plain hard. Even in the best of circumstances--it's a beautiful day, the kids are more or less behaving well, and you're spending time with good friends--it's still hard. There is no way around it, life with young kids just makes everything more difficult.

This afternoon we took a family hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a gloriously sunny day with the perfect hiking temperature. The mountain was gorgeous with crisp melted-snow water running down the stream alongside the trail. Hank and Max had a great time trying to scramble up the rocky hillside, climbing over fallen logs, and tossing rocks into the stream. The reality check is that Joey started shrieking mid car ride, poor Benny wasn't feeling his best and kept saying, pathetically, "home," the trail we originally planned to hike wasn't open yet for the season so we didn't get to see the waterfalls, and, in case you're wondering, hiking uphill with a kid strapped to your back and another growing in your belly is a workout! So, how did it go? It was as good as it could be.