Hiking with the Children

This is my first blog post every and I'm not 100% sure what the protocol is. Also I don't really know how to add pictures but I'm going to try. Perfect example of a course 6. If any of the freshman are interested in computer science, send them my way... obviously

HIII!!!

I just got "out of the woods" a few days ago and am finally acclimatizing to real life again. As in using a computer and showering regularly. For those who don't know, I was working for a company called Overland this summer. They lead hiking and biking trips for kids ages 11-18. I worked with the youngest kids, leading Introductory Hiking trips in New England. We camped out every night and went on a ton of hikes, bike rides, and rafting and kayaking trips. It was pretty great although extremely exhausting and I learned a lot- mostly about how strange and surprising and fantastic kids are when you're living with them for weeks on end. Also I got to sleep in a one-man tent for the entire summer which really suited my hermit lifestyle.

This was one of my first groups in Western Mass. Of course right after we took this picture, multiple kids jumped in the water despite our only rule of the day (No Swimming). Then the kids had to hike soaking wet so the afternoon was full of complaining and crying on the trail. I instituted the motto "Pants Dry, Socks Dry, Tears Dry"... I think I was born to be a mother with my natural maternal instinct

So this is a super flattering picture of me eating a Vermonster in Burlington, VT with my co-leader Anna. The kids gave up after they started to feel ill and ultimately threw up in the bathroom of Ben and Jerry's but Anna and I soldiered on to finish it #teamplayerz. Great story about Anna: one night we were putting the kids in their tents at approximately 7:45pm because we were tired and had an early hike the next day and one kid sweetly observed "But Anna, it's still light out". Her response- "Close your eyes". The kid climbed into his tent and went right to sleep, it was the best.

We got to bike on the "Island Rail Trail" over Lake Champlain in the Adirondacks. It was surrounded by water on both sides. I asked a child to take a solo pic of me to text to my parents so he thought I was super cool










Anyways, it was an exhausting and amazing job but I'm really happy to just be hanging out with my family for a few weeks before going back to school ahhh. Missing you guys tons and can't wait to get back out on a boat.