A Morning up the Mountain

 Now that the mornings are so dark, Anna and I have been struggling to get our early morning dog walking fitted in before Justin heads to work. Also the guys have been spending a lot of time in the house (meaning that the boys still have a lot of energy the wrong end of the day!) so we decided to try working the day a bit differently. I have been in the habit of trying to get the guys to do a bit of work once morning chores are done and then we tend to free flow after lunch but the afternoons seem to be very short with it cold by about three o'clock. Therefore I thought we'd try going out in the morning, the theory being that having blown the cobwebs out they'd settle better into something constructive (or at least not argumentative or hyper) once home.
As it was such a good weather day for November we decided to head up the mountain.

 The children were fascinated by the little streams that ran right under the path.

So they tried to follow where they went to.

Eoin decided that this tree was called Arnold and then proceeded to try and find all his cousins!

We didn't quite make it to the top but we got far enough to get a lovely view. It was really something special being up there all on our own, enjoying the peace, having the freedom to explore as far as we chose without chasing the clock, and to literally feel on top of the world.

The children then ran most of the way back down.

I then had a very peaceful afternoon, both children and dogs having had such an energetic morning. Beth sat and read and Anna worked on a photographic project. The four younger ones had an imaginative game going in the playroom doing a lot of cooking with the toy kitchen, so presumably they were running a cafe or similar. When they play like this I often hear myself in the way they talk to each other. Now some days when I've been on a short fuse this is something I live to regret as when they are then mad with someone phrases I wouldn't be proud of get repeated. Today though it was all good and for that I am thankful.

This photo was then taken this afternoon as the sun was setting from inside the house looking over to the mountains where we were this morning.