Trip to Oak Mountain State Park

One of our favorite things to do when it's pretty outside is to take a trip to Oak Mountain State Park. We love to hike through all of the trails, and love seeing so many people out and about. It is gorgeous out there! This time, we knew our trip would be a little different with my preggo self, but Emma had never been there before so we decided to give it a try.

We had to make a couple of stops on the way out there. Emma was doing pretty good riding in the car and staying in the back seat (I told Ben to bring her crate, but he didn't want to), but at one point this is literally what happened...

Dangerous I know...She has to be in the center of attention and has to be loved on at ALL times, so she couldn't stand the fact that we were completely ignoring her in the back seat. Don't worry.. I quickly pulled her away and to the back she went.

Ellie was so excited to be going. She sat in my lap wagging her tail the whole way there! When we got to one of the trails, there wasn't anybody else in sight on the same trail with us so we decided to let the dogs go without a leash. Now, for Ellie, this was nothing new. We walk her all the time without a leash. For Emma, you would have thought she had never been outside before! She went crazy running through the woods... not on the trail....back and forth. She was going sooo fast that we were scared she was going to lose control and run into a tree... we laughed so hard! She was like a little kid in a candy shop! See for yourself... Make sure you are looking VERY closely to the top right corner...you will see her sprint down towards us!

Before we got there, I pretty much threatened Ben with his life saying that I refused to go on any of the strenuous trails that we normally do. I just wanted to take it slow and stay on flat ground. I continuously said "No hills."

I should have known better. We thought he had picked the "easy" trail. I will admit, it wasn't the hardest one, but it was continuously going uphill. Ben kept saying "Oh if we just get to the top of this it will flatten out." I kept going....and the hills kept rising. I was actually doing ok for a while...but eventually, when we both realized it was never going to flatten out, we both knew it was time to turn around. I guess its like carrying a ten pound backpack strapped to my stomach climbing hills. I really wasn't horribly tired or dying, I just didn't want to get to the point where I was exhausted since it was already late in the day and we didn't have any water with us. It actually felt good to be able to get outside and get a little exercise. Hopefully the weather will stay this way so I can start walking more!

I did manage to stop for a quick picture at the very beginning...Emma did not like the fact that I was holding a stick! She thinks all sticks are for her! (Please excuse the fact that I look disgusting in this picture!)

When we got back down to the beginning of the trail, I had the dogs pause for a picture.. Look at Emma's tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.. she was one tired pup! Now Ellie, she's a champ!!

It was seriously so much fun being out there on such a gorgeous day! I seriously LOVE it there! The weather was perfect.. Not cold at all, but not too hot! We can't wait to go back again soon.. and one day, take little Baby A out there with us!

On the ride home, Emma slept the entire way... no trying to drive or sneak up front this time!

We got home, gave the dogs a bath, and this is what they did for the rest of the night...

Maybe we need to do this more often!