Parking it

I don't know if it's the sunshine or warmer temperatures or need for exercise, but over the last few weeks, the kids and I have been out to various parks around Nashville almost every weekend.  It started with a trip one early Saturday morning to Edwin Warner Park.  Wes, Ollie, and I (and Lucy) have made several trips to Percy Warner, which has more unpaved trails and is a bit hillier than Edwin Warner.  There is a big paved road in Percy Warner, but it's shared with vehicles, so I didn't want to push the stroller there.  Plus, it's fun to get back into the woods.  I'd heard Edwin Warner had paved trails back in the wood, plus there's a nature center with a kid's play area.  So when Emme and Ollie woke up early one morning (and Wes was still sleeping from a late night shift), I packed them both, the double stroller, and the dog into the car and headed off.  We had a really nice outing.  Emme mostly slept.  Lucy jogged happily along.  The weather was lovely -- not too cold or too warm.  Ollie sat in the stroller for a good bit of time, and then I let him out and he jogged alongside me (to the amusement of many a passerby).  This paved trail isn't shared with cars, and after about a half mile, there's no city sounds at all.  We heard all kinds of bird, including a woodpecker, which Oliver identified and scouted (having seen one up close at Grandma Martha's bird feeder weeks before).  We went about three hilly miles in total, which, when pushing about 50 pounds of kids, stroller, and car seat, takes a while.  Oliver told me he needed the potty about .5 miles from the car, which meant I sprinted the end.  We did make it to a toilet at the nature center without incident.  The kids area was closed, but it looks adorable and we'll definitely go back.

The next day, while Wes was doing some work at home, I took the kids (sans Lucy) to Radnor Lake.  This has only a short paved section but lots of trails.  Unfortunately, the trails are rather too narrow to accommodate a double stroller.  When we go back, I'll probably either take the single and a carrier for Emme or just let Oliver walk.  (Dogs aren't allowed on the unpaved portions, which is why I hadn't taken Lucy).  The paved section and some of the trails follow along the edge of Radnor Lake, which was, at least on the day we were there, filled with snapping turtles.  Oliver and I spent lots of time pointing out turtles in the water.  He was disappointed he couldn't go down to the water but seemed to like the lake anyway.  Unfortunately, the kids weren't in as good a mood this time.  Emme cried and fussed in the stroller, which eventually required a stop at one of the lake overlook points for a nursing session, and Ollie was dragging (perhaps still worn out from the previous day's jog!).  There's nothing like pushing a double stroller with no kids in it!  It's definitely somewhere I'd like to go back, but with a different setup.

Yesterday morning, while Wes slept* a little more, I took the kids and Lucy to Shelby Bottoms.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew the trails followed the Cumberland River, and I thought Ollie would like that.  The park area includes a playground and several baseball fields.  The greenways themselves include a nice paved trail (closed to vehicles) along with a lot of unpaved trails that run back through the grasses.  It's really serene, really beautiful.  The weather was great, and the trail wasn't too crowded when we were there.  I managed to go three miles, but once again, the kids didn't really help.  I let Oliver out to jog with me, but he just dragged along, and I eventually made him get back in so he didn't get run over by marathon training groups that were running in the opposite direction.  The paved trail is very nice.  People aren't as good, I guess, about cleaning up after dogs as at the Warners.  There's several bridges along the way over the creek.  Ollie once again was disappointed that he couldn't go down to the water, but when I pushed them down the boat ramp to see the water, he didn't want to go any further.  I took him over to the playground when we finished our jog.  Unfortunately, Emme started crying again right around the time Ollie and I both soaked our bottoms (hah!) on a side-by-side slide, so we decided to head home.

If there's one thing I've realized, it's that there's a lot more park around Nashville than I realized.  I'm very glad I've got the double stroller now, and I'm looking forward to going back to places like Radnor and Percy Warner with just Emme in a carrier for some vigorous walking (it seems wrong to call it hiking!).  I used to love jogging with Wes and Lucy along the New River Trail, and this is kind of a piece of that.  It's strange to put your kids in the car to go exercise and see nature, but the only thing in any direction from here is pretty congested with traffic, which is hard with a stroller and dog especially.  I don't have any specific goals from all of this.  Lucy and I could both stand to lose a few pounds and get in better shape.  I hope the kids see an active lifestyle that they continue with throughout their lives.  Mostly, though, it just makes me feel good.

*In fairness, Wes doesn't just sleep and work at home while I take care of the kids.  Sometimes he's coming off a shift, and I'm trying to keep the kids occupied while he sleeps, and sometimes we split up time on the weekend so we each get some time without the kids to work.  I just tend to use those opportunities to get out and get some exercise, whereas he's more likely to do projects around the house.