I don’t have to keep on saying it, but here I am again: this season of our life is very full! It’s a good kind of full, and while I sometimes feel overwhelmed, we know that this is where we are supposed to be. Still, our life looks nothing like most traditional families that I know. Most families I know have work and schooling on M-F, then a day off on Saturday and then church and a somewhat slower afternoon on Sunday. I *know* that even with this “normal” lifestyle it is stressful, and not at all relaxing! I do not want to portray that I think that this “lifestyle” is easy or a luxury…it’s just different from our schedule!
Our schedule has Theo working on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Then both Theo and I work on Tuesday and Thursday. So as you can see….that leaves Wednesdays. The problem with Wednesdays is that it is still a homeschool day, so it’s not entirely a day “off” (as I’m sure many people feel about Saturdays!).
Although I’ve mostly adjusted to a weird family schedule over the years, one thing that I still struggle with is when people say that every family should have a Sabbath. Sabbath – loosely defined – is a day of rest and ceasing from work. The spectrum of how this is applied varies greatly- some people literally don’t cook or clean or do any chores on this day. Some people still cook and maintain the home, but try to avoid technology or take a nap in the afternoon or avoid any job-related work.
I’ve struggled with guilt and with frustration over not being able to establish a family Sabbath, and have honestly wondered how our family can pull it off. We have tried many things over the years. Sabbath on Sunday, just without Theo. Sabbath on a different day of the week, trying to turn off our phones in the middle of the week and take a whole day off just isn’t practical (especially when schoolwork is due the next day for our kids). When we try to stay at home for a day of “rest”, Theo and I both get restless and starting finding chores or projects to do around the homestead.
And then, this year, the solution just…happened. I suggested that we try to do something that gets us out of the house every Wednesday afternoon. We also wanted it to be something free, so of course hiking was the most logical choice! I leave my phone at home, or Theo and I switch phones so that we aren’t tempted to be checking socials or emails or texts. We started this hiking tradition right along with the school year, and we hope to continue it through the whole school year! We might need to invest in some good snowsuits over the cold winter months!
Here are some of the hikes we have done recently:
Wednesday, August 14 – Silver Lake Sand Dunes hike on our family reunion in Ludington, MI
Wednesday, August 21 – a neighborhood in Lebanon, OH (Ezra was having some bad asthma flare-ups, so we didn’t venture too far on this day)
Wednesday, August 28 – Caesar’s Creek State Park – Horseshoe Falls
It was SO HOT on this day, and horseshoe falls were all dried up. There was a small pool at the bottom, and we saw at least TEN snakes in it. We did not go in that water. On the way back to the van, we found that the trail actually went down to Caesar’s Creek Lake and we took a little detour there. It was so hot I almost jumped all the way in the water.
Wednesday, September 4- Caesar’s Creek Park Lower Dam Trail
Weds, September 11- Another trip to Caesar’s Creek Lower Dam Trail because the kids wanted to bring their nets and buckets to catch crayfish!
Weds, Sept 18- I was in bed all day with a nasty cold and I had just busted up my knee and could hardly walk, but Theo and the kids went together to Patricia Allyn Park and hiked some of the wooded trails in the lower level of the park
Weds, Sept 25- Caesar’s Creek Park Fifty Loop Trail (and my Mom joined us for this one!)
Bonus- we even went for a hike up Roan Mountain in TN when were down visiting family! This hike is on part of the Appalachian trail. Normally, the views are incredible but on the day we went it was so foggy we could barely see in front of us! Haha! It was still an incredible view/hike!
I’m hoping that this is just the beginning of a long-standing family tradition! It is SO life-giving in this season. Even though it means filling water bottles and packing snacks and loading up and driving somewhere….we are always so glad when we get out there.
Local friends- what hikes do we need to add to our list? We are hoping to make a Hocking Hills day trip when the colors are at their fall peak! And of course, John Bryan is one of our favorite hiking spots, especially in the Spring. A friend already invited us over for dinner after we come up and hike Charleston Falls, so that one is also on our list! We also love Grant Park trails. What are we missing? Any trails in the Cincinnati area that we need to hit up?
We hike on Thursdays this year! We used to have a homeschooling group that hiked on Fridays but my one lone homeschooler left at home is taking a college class on Fridays this year so our hiking group moved their hikes to Thursdays. It’s a wonderful way to relax and still get to socialize. However, as a family we have never ever managed a family sabbath/rest day. But we’ve always worked hard to sprinkle in fun and rest whenever we could.
However we all found a love of hiking that I do credit to our homeschooling lifestyle as we joined a homeschool hiking group early on and found so many wonderful places to explore. I use the AllTrails app to find local trails and find it so helpful when hiking a new place too. Not all the trails are as well marked as I’d like!