It was cold today (high of about 43) but we had to get the kids out of the house for a while. We drove to Umstead to take a family hike in the afternoon, but had trouble finding parking so we changed plans and drove to nearby Schenck Forest instead. It was a great alternative--far less crowded. It was also almost like exploring a new place. Although we'd been there before, we hadn't been there in a long time and we were able to hike much farther than before now that the kids are so much older and more capable. (We still did a really short hike, because we stop and play so much our rate is about 1 mile per hour.)
