Muddy Bums and Mudbugs

Yesterday, I was itching for a hike, but the kids didn't want to be in the car for long, so we ended up at Cress Creek again. This time we had all day, so we took our time, explored some areas that we hadn't seen before, and even brought water shoes and a net to play in the creek. Our first stop was across the canal to find a geocache. We didn't find it, but we did get really close to the Snake River, which was moving high and quick!

Back on the trail, there is a nice wide spot of the creek. Hadley had made a request on our last trip to bring water shoes for this area when we came back. So we did. And a net. Let's just say that Hadley was not impressed as soon as she stepped in and sank to her knees, soaking her capri pants unexpectedly. As I was helping her dry out on the bank, I looked up at Owen and saw him swinging a leg around sans shoe where the creek narrows up stream. Five minutes later, he was still missing a shoe, so I went to help him locate it. Turns out he'd found the muddiest little pool to step in, and he couldn't even figure out what had happened to his left shoe. We splashed and squished around that little mudpool for a good 10 minutes, which was funny because it was probably only a foot across. I was about to donate that shoe to the moose when, elbow-deep, he shouted that he could feel his shoe! I reached for his hand in the muck and grabbed hold of what felt like a shoe. Both of us pulled really, really hard and the shoe eventually slurped out of the muck and Owen sat down in it with the effort! Whew! Before and after. A little creek rinse, and everything was fine again.

Thankfully, we had brought the water shoes as spares, so we left them to dry while we finished the hike. We took our time and enjoyed the views.

At another creek crossing, near the end of the loop, the kids were inspired to do some more exploring. So we retrieved our water shoes and went back the short distance where they played for another hour or so.

And what a find! Who knew that there were crawfish in the intermountain creeks? I had heard legend, but the kids actually found a couple as evidence! So cool. And yes, we put it back in fine condition. 

I was really stretching my mom comfort zone, letting them explore and venture up and down the creek and trail a bit. On the way back to the car, they zoomed ahead (how did they still have so much energy?!) down the trail. At one point, I was looking ahead for them and nearly stepped on a huge snake slithering across the trail! It about gave me a heart attack, and then I imagined it must have been just on the other side when they went by. Yikes!! Sometimes obliviousness is a blessing.