Bryson in Asia: Breakfast Out and a Hike

I know I didn't mention this on here - or Facebook, for that matter - but my husband went to Asia for 12 days starting on September 30th.  He has been away for business before but never for this long, so I had no idea what to expect from his time away.  The first day was decidedly rockier than I had anticipated; Baylor, who had been fine up until this point, got upset when we dropped Bryson off at the airport and said our goodbyes.  I had been also doing fine, but seeing my son upset put me over the edge and we were all a bit of a mess as we made our way home.  Hoping to change the mood of the beginning of our adventure, I decided to take the kids out for breakfast.  We went to a little local diner called Real Food Cafe, and the kids were delighted, and seemingly relieved, at the distraction.

I even let them have things they don't usually have ... like apple juice for Mollie

... and chocolate milk for Baylor!

They both got the "kids" order of pancakes.  I asked for them to be blueberry pancakes, but apparently the cook we got was new and didn't put them on, not in, the pancakes.  The kids didn't care.  I should have just ordered one pancake for the both of them, though, as Baylor ate all but one ear and Mollie essentially ate only one ear.

After breakfast, we made plans with my dad to go to Provin Trails for a little hike.  Mollie insisted on bringing along her pretend cell phone.  *sigh*

As we hiked, Dad told the kids all about trees and lumber ... I just love it when fun outings turn into learning experiences!

At one point, Dad decided to show the kids how to climb a tree.

I'm not too worried about either kid trying it anytime soon, though; Baylor begged Dad to get down after the picture above was taken, and Mollie ran over to spot him in case he fell.

As we continued on our walk, Mollie kept up her phone conversation as much as possible.

Of course, when she saw a photo op, she just had to take it.

We came upon a hollowed-out tree, and Dad told the kids about termites while I snapped pictures.

Oh, and so did Mollie.  Say "Cheese!", Mommy!

Though the morning was rough, we turned the day around and managed to have a really good first day without Bryson.  Knowing that the good days make the time move much faster, I was excited to have such a great start.