an impromptu side trip

While we were visiting Harmonie State Park on Sunday, Mike said, "Hey, I think Shawnee National Forest is just across the river in Illinois." I'm just going to go ahead and say that he must have wanted to go, because after 15 years together (!!!) he knows that you can't dangle bait like that and not expect me to snatch it up.

So after a little searching on my phone (ah, internet!) and a quick stop for lunch, we arrived at a truly spectacular place: Garden of the Gods Recreation Area. There just aren't enough superlatives (and I know a LOT of superlatives) to describe it. The trail is about half a mile long, well-defined flagstone, but we stayed for a couple of hours because the boys (and ok, let's face it, me too) wanted to climb on every single rock formation. There aren't any guard rails or anything, so it was slightly (or EXTREMELY) anxiety-making from a parental standpoint, but the boys were fairly good about staying with one of us and not doing anything too dangerous.

At one point we split up because Liam and Henry wanted to go explore in one area, so Mike and Max went ahead. And then Liam spotted them at the top of a freaking cliff across the way. Check them out! Liam and Henry were SO MAD that Max got there first!

You know, we take little side trips fairly often when we go somewhere, and it's funny to me that the side trips often end up being the highlight of the whole adventure (see also: Triple Falls at Dupont State Forest, Amelia Island, Marengo Cave, and Washington, DC). This little side trip was no exception.