I took the kids, against their will, to nearby Hemlock Bluffs for a little fall hike. They resist hiking these days, which makes me sad. Part of the problem is that their hiking styles are incompatible. Alice likes to hike, see the next thing, move, move, move. Simon likes to stop and play, stop and climb, stop, stop stop. So at any given time, one of them is whining that we're moving or stopping. I just try to focus on enjoying being out in nature.
It had rained recently, so there were lots of mushrooms in the forest. Simon had brought his rubber band sling-shot, initially with the plan of hunting squirrels. Since the squirrels were scarce, he turned his attention to shooting the fungus among us. I didn't worry too much about his mushroom destruction, figuring they grow fast and mentally equating them with weeds. However, when we were leaving the park and I saw a sign posted saying to leave all the mushrooms alone. I felt very guilty then. Simon single-handedly destroyed at least 70% of the mushrooms within sight of the path. Oops.
