Mini Adventure

I've read this a lot of other places but I've always loved the idea of taking mini adventures with the kids.

Nothing special, we can't exactly just travel all over the place every weekend, but mini trips to explore and get to know the area we're currently living in sounding like a great idea!

So this summer, Tom and I have made a point of taking the kids for mini adventures whenever we can. We got off to a bit of a slow start...that having a baby thing and all put a damper on my "adventuring spirit". But now that we are in a good routine with 4 kids and I'm feeling a bit better after my c-section, we are out and exploring every chance we can!

With a family day today, we decided to take a little drive and explore Charlston Falls.

I had heard from a friend it was a totally doable hike for the kiddos so we wrapped up the baby and gave it a shot!

It was a looped trail but I had full intentions of making it to the waterfall, someone complaining they didn't want to walk, and turn back around. I was super surprised that the kids wanted to keep going! There was waterfalls, streams, a cave, prairies and a pond to explore. The kids were really into it! They loved walking through the woods, finding bugs, and checking out all of the sites.

We ended up doing the whole loop but taking the shorter routes along the way.

There were lots of benches to stop and take mini breaks. I brought snacks and water to keep them happy. There were a ton of bugs though so none of our breaks lasted very long before we decided moving made us less of a target for all of the bugs to eat us alive.

We saw fish in the pond, butterflies in the prairies and walked for a good 2 hours before looping back to our car.

The trails were mostly gravel and reasonable to manage, although some areas were a little more rugged near the waterfall. Overall, we had a great morning and I think we will have to go back! Maybe when Eloise can walk with us ;)

Any other great spots in the Dayton area we should add to our summer mini adventure list? We would be willing to even venture into Kentucky, Indiana and other parts of Ohio if it's worth it!