A little over two years ago when my oldest was barely three, we had two foster daughters. They were in the middle of transitioning home with their birth parents. We wanted to make the last of our time together memorable so my husband and I decided we would take the children all to one of the state parks that was not too far from where we were living at the time and go hiking across the old railroad bridge.
At first our foster daughters weren’t too excited about going hiking in the middle of nowhere, so I devised a plan 
to get them on board. They both enjoyed being creative and doing crafty activities so I sent them off through the trees along with our three year old to find the perfect hiking sticks. I told them that once they had found their sticks, they could use my craft paints to decorate them. It didn’t take too long, and the three girls were back with their sticks and got to work painting.
The results were beautiful sticks we hauled to the park and used on the hike, and a memorable hike it was. The first part was incredibly easy as it was all downhill. The next stretch was perfectly straight and flat as we walked across the railroad bridge. We marveled at the river rushing beneath our feet before traipsing onward. The trail continued down the path the railroad had taken and remained straight and smooth, but the grass was tall on the edges.
When we got to the end of the trail, I noticed small black dots on one of the girl’s pants. I started to point out the seeds we had picked up along the way when I saw the “seeds” moving. As it turned out, we hadn’t picked up seeds, we’d picked up ticks. Quickly we plucked the little critters off our clothing and headed back, stopping again at the bridge to pick off the ones we had gathered on the way back through the taller grass.
Last week when we were taking off for our spontaneous trip, my now five and a half year old daughter wanted to find the perfect hiking stick and paint it before we left. Since we didn’t have much time, I told her we could find hiking sticks once we got to our destination. After a little bit of discussion she decided that was a grand idea and would find the right size one for her younger brother too.
Out of everything that had gone into the hike three years ago, she remembered the hiking sticks and wanted to recreate that memory. How very different my memories were…I remembered the effort it took to get four children fed and out the door. I remembered the fight in the back of the van on the way to the state park. I remembered the ticks crawling all over everyone and making sure we got them all off. I remembered the breakdown the eight year old had at the site of the hill we’d have to climb to get back to the van. I remembered how heavy the toddler on my back felt as we climbed that hill.
Once my daughter mentioned the sticks, I remembered them and the fun we had painting them before we left. Thinking about that reminded me how the eight year old had twirled hers like a baton as we marched down the trail. I remembered the delight on the children’s faces when they noticed fish under the bridge and the way we picked flowers and put them in our hair.
On our latest hike, I tried to be more cognizant of the beauty around me and the beauty of the people with me. We found hiking sticks. We spotted deer tracks and new pine trees growing. We marveled at the roots of a fallen down tree. We sat and enjoyed the view from the top. Sure, there were hard parts and inconveniences, but this time I chose not to focus on them. I wanted my memories to be fond so that when our family discusses our spontaneous trip and hike up The Cliffs, the first things I think of are the fond memories. 
When we left The Cliffs, we brought our sticks home, and the children painted them. I do believe painted hiking sticks are just going to be a part of our hikes. For me, they will serve as a reminder to look at our experiences through my children’s eyes and remember the good parts.
What are the memories you are making with your loved ones? Over this weekend, I want to encourage you to purposefully store away the good to remember and reminisce about in the future. Look for the beauty and focus on it even if there are fights or spilled food or fits thrown. Make the memories you want to talk about for years to come.
These are the memories our children remember always!