This morning I woke up and my husband Brandon suggested the boys and I hike Diamond creek trail, a .8 mile hike down to the beach and then back up, we would stop and have lunch on the beach and play for a bit. But then I had the thought I’ve always wanted to hike the beach from Diamond Creek to Bishops Beach, you need a low tide to do it and the timing felt like we could squeeze by.

So the plan got rolling at 8am, I packed a lunch, water and our Onya baby carrier for my 3 year old in case he got tired and I trusted my 4.5 year old Theodore could hike the entire way. I assumed it was a 6.5 mile hike (ended up being a bit longer closer to 7.5mi).

Hike kid speed, stop and explore and be okay going slow. Trust me this isn’t always easy, I had a few stellar moments of being concerned we wouldn’t make the tide and that we would be on the beach all night with the pace we had. We moved about 1.25miles per hour. I did yell but I recovered quickly in the beautiful surroundings with the reminder to SLOW down!
Bring chocolate. Theo would race from rocks to me and then get a VERY tiny piece of chocolate!
Play games. I would drag a stick behind me leaving a trail for Theo to follow, loops, zig zags etc. We played eye spy and also our animal guessing game. We take turns thinking of an animal and the other has to guess it while clues.
Trust. Trust that you can do it, imagine the task, hike, challenge being completed. Trust your child can do it too, and tell them that.
Bring Friends. They make great sherpas and distractions! Friends help cheer each other on, especially kids.
Wool Clothes. Wool socks are key, the kids had water over their boots and wool socks on. While the socks and boots were wet, their feet were warm. It was a sunny day but they were both wearing wool long johns in case they got wet. We had gloves, hats and a raincoat for backup!