Good Day for a Hike?

Our morning today was occupied with five year checkups for the girls (all is well) and a trip to Target for a few (11 x $100) Disney gift cards. The gift cards are a sneaky (and somewhat time consuming) way to save $50. We were able to buy Disney gift cards at Target and get 5% off with our Target Red Card. Then with a few account number and security code entries on a website, I combined the cards into one mega gift card. Now I can use that to buy our Disneyland tickets for 5% off.

With those two tasks behind us, I suggested a hike to the kids today and some playing in the park. Colin grabbed his walking stick and I grabbed the provisions and bug spray and off we went to Highbanks Metro Park. Our first stop was the Nature Center to check out the trail map and figure our path, plus use the restroom one last time. With that, we were off.

The walk started with some happy hikers. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, nice breeze, some sun peaking through the white fluffy clouds. Our plan was to hike to the Olentangy River play area and back, a little over one mile each way. When we were just about to the river, we came out of the tree cover and noticed some dark clouds not far off. It was 2:56 PM. I checked the weather app on my phone and it said "rain starting at 3:00 PM". We decided to push on to the river.

Unfortunately for us, the forecast was pretty spot on. We managed to get to a shelter before getting too soaked. We had a little snack and checked the weather. The radar showed a big green patch and we were just at the front edge of it. After sitting a bit, we all agreed to walk to the car in the rain. Nobody was complaining much with the exception of Caroline. She was cold and tired for a while, but managed to push on through.

In the end, I think everyone enjoyed the adventure. They even talked about coming back to play at the river next time, but maybe a little more prepared and probably checking the forecast first.