Weekend Fun (?)

I had the weekend off and Saturday was pretty spring-like here - I think it got up to 50! WOW! (Of course that's a fluke because they're saying it will snow this week. BOO!) Thankfully, we took full advantage of the nice day while we had it. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I bite off more than I can chew, or at least enough that I have a hard time chewing it but I almost never spit it back out. That is to say, I tackle things that people think I'm crazy for even taking on. But I've always said "Go big or stay home." Saturday was an example of this philosophy. What can make going out with four boys, 7 and under even more difficult? Take the dog! Yes, I loaded everyone up bright and early on Saturday and went to a couple of stores. (Old Navy had some great deals and I got a few cute shirts for the boys to wear for Easter.) I promised them if they were good we could go to Natureland and hike the trails and they were really good, so off we went. I had packed a nice picnic lunch so after hiking for 1/2 hour or so, we sat down and enjoyed our pb&j's in the warm sunshine with Scrabble tied to the picnic table. Life was oh-so good up until that point. It went downhill FAST! After packing up the lunch refuse, I strapped Luke back in the backpack but on my front this time. He seemed cold during lunch so I thought that would help. My back was also hurting a bit from his 30 lbs of cuteness. We started out on another trail and we didn't get 50 yards in before faced with a steep incline that was covered with about 4" thick ICE! It was mud on both sides of this strip of ice so of course we all had to try to trek through the mud. Imagine trying to get up this incline with a baby strapped on you AND a crazy untrained dog pulling at the leash. NOT FUN! Now imagine seeing your 3 year old slipping on the ice and crying for you as he slides back down the hill. His older brothers were no help because they were struggling themselves. I ended up having to tether Scrabble to a dead tree, go back down the hill to try to retrieve William and then back down the other 1/2 way to get the dog. WHEW! When that ordeal was over, I was so relieved! What else could go wrong, right? We got back to the car shortly after and I was telling the boys to get in the car when I suddenly felt no more pulling at the end of the leash. Scrabble had wriggled out of his collar and taken off. I didn't know what to do! My first priority had to be getting the kids strapped in and safe, but by that time that crazy dog had taken off down the road. Have I mentioned Scrabble is NOT a car-chaser? It would actually be much better if he were. No, he doesn't chase cars. He tries to ATTACK cars HEAD-ON! So I got in the van and start down the road to try to find him. I saw him on the opposite side of the road up on the embankment and there was a red pickup truck coming towards us. Scrabble saw his target and started RACING down the embankment to try to jump up on the hood of the truck (smart dog, huh?). I was waving my hands frantically, thinking this is the moment when my kids get to see their dog get run over right in front of them. Thankfully, the man in the truck saw me and slowed down so he didn't hit Scrabble. I jumped out and was able to gather him up and throw him back in the van. The rest of our weekend was pretty peaceful because I decided make it so. I'm all for going big, but sometimes it IS nice to just STAY HOME!