Trail of Two Forests

This little loop trail is so cool. You walk along a board walk along a part of the forest that was once covered in a lava flow. The lava ran though the valley toppling the trees. Once the lava cooled the trees slowly decayed leaving tunnels in the ground. Then there are pits were the the trees burned all the way down, roots and all leaving giant holes in the earth. It is pretty awesome. The kids all loved climbing in the tree tunnels. That is everyone except Sara. Thank goodness you can't see her face in this picture.

She was SOOOOO mad. And I felt in the end like the worst mom ever. She is such a little monkey I honestly thought she would enjoy crawling through the tree tunnels and coming up the ladders. Like a "good" Mom I went with her. But then like a "bad" Mom once she lost it and started wailing in protests when it got dark I made her keep going forward instead of retreating.

For every step I helped her crawl, by the time I started crawling forward she had scooted back. It was a nearly impossible task. She screamed the whole time making it just that much more frustrating. By the time I made it out with her she was fiercely mad and I was sweating with frustration and embarrassment for being a "bad" Mom and I still have a horrible collection of bruises to pay for it all.

The best part of the trail was that the girls found this Alligator Lizard. He was very patient and let everyone hold him and play with him. I made these girls come to tears too though when I refused to let them bring him home. What an afternoon!