ShireHike

 On Saturday we had a great day completing the 12km "ShireHike" with the Scouts. 

It was a big event with some 700 scouts of different ages attending. There were different length routes, we did the 12km (plus the 1.5km to get to the start), there was a 5km for the beavers (we couldn't get enough leaders to run the beaver walk as well), a 24km for the scouts (our scouts are all quite young so they stuck to the 12km cub walk) and a 37km walk for the explorers! The explorers group set off really early. 

We walk on the hills plenty and it was all routes we knew, but it was still a fun thing to do on a Saturday. The weather was kind. 

And although there was lots of scouts on the hills, it didn't feel too busy. 

We didn't manage to go as a whole family, although we all did the walk. My wife and Eldest went with the scouts, and I went with the younger two with the cubs. 

They all seemed to really enjoy it, and there was a lot of laughter coming from the children, they seemed to have a great time, even if they did moan about their feet a few times! 

Of course to fuel us properly we had to have something good in our packed lunches. I baked my usual white rolls, but had done some Mexican chicken and rump steak to go in them. 

The Middlest made a chocolate brownie, she is constantly trying new recipes for it. This one was really good. 

and the eldest made a chocolate cake with real (goats) butter icing in the middle and black berry jam. It showed how hard she was walking as she had a big lunch and didn't need any insulin for it apparently! 

A fun day with two of the children. Sometimes it's really good to do things separately but also together, if that makes any sense at all? 

Scouts can feel like a massive pain at times, it's such a commitment, but we do get more out than we put in (most of the time anyway). 

Anyone else been on a long walk lately?