Hike 2: Diamond Head - August 28, 2011

After doing the first hike, the kids asked me what hiking was. I told them that it was basically like taking a long walk outside. Sometimes you get to walk through the forest, along the beach and sometimes you can climb to the top of hills and mountains. Both of them told me that they wanted to try it sometime. Mark and I looked at each other and said, "Okay!" Diamond Head it was!

We got up early on a Sunday and decided to head on over. It was kind of a mixed morning--misty and sunny. When we got to the parking lot, this is what awaited us:




The trail was a little busy, but we were grateful that we got there early. After we hit the gravel part of the trail, Gavin took a quick look up:



Because we had the kids, we decided to make it fun and to take our time. We didn't want to push them too hard and make it not fun. If we saw something interesting, we'd stop and take a quick breather.





We made it up the switch backs and it started to sprinkle on us. Luckily, the kids have become very much accustomed to the rainshowers here. Basically, if it rains, you just wait about 5 minutes and it'll be over. I've been told that during the winter that's not always the case, but since we're in the summer/fall, that's pretty much it. We made it up the "Stairs of Evil" (as my son so eloquently called them) and through the bunker tunnel. Lauren was wearing her Sketcher Twinkle Toes shoes, which happen to light up. It was pretty funny...every time she took a step, she twinkled. We climbed through the bunker and up the last small set of stairs and then we made it to the top!



We took our time going back down the hill and stopped and snapped a few more pictures. The kids had a great time and have told me that they most definitely want to do it again.



Diamond Head + Kiddos = Hiking WIN!