the Ups n' Downs....of Fall

As I have mentioned before...Fall is my favorite season....the changing leaves, relief from the heat, and yummy baked goods. We decided to go on a picnic to McKittrick Canyon...where we heard that there was an amazing display of Fall leaves. I packed us an amazing picnic lunch...that wasn't on the light side...and my hubby packed his backpack full of unnecessary items for a picnic...which weighed around 35 lbs. We were under the impression that this was a light hike...and didn't see the signs posted that it was a 6.8 mile round trip. I failed to mention that my back is still hurting and we took Jude. The trip quickly turned sour...meltdowns followed. Joseph ended up carrying Jude, his backpack...and until I felt sorry for him....the picnic bag....3 miles is a long way if you are carrying an extra 70 lbs...so we ended up finding a quiet spot and eating our picnic lunch....and heading back. Jude was also working on his Junior Ranger Badge...and we missed the station closing my minutes....so we decided to come back the next day.

We packed lighter, made PB&J's and started 3 hours early....Jude also got his badge before we left...we thought, "man, this going so good so far!" Famous Last Words.
About an hour into the hike Jude falls....and face plants on a rock....blood, tears...and a chipped tooth...the boy is determined to knock those teeth out....we don't have anything medical but wipes, "neo to go" and some bandaids. There is nothing to do...but comfort him. He calmed down 5 minutes later, so we decided to keep going and made it to the Pratt Cabin...where we eat an "ok" picnic linner (lunch/dinner) and explored the cabin. Jude immediately told anyone that would listen, "I busted my tooth on a rock and it's broken" When were on our way back we stopped at the famous rock...and found the little chip of tooth still there! The entire way back we heard "put my tooth back on...it hurts!" Poor little guy.
The Fall leaves were amazing, and the canyon was beautiful...I did get some great pics...but I'm not sure if it was worth all the trouble.