Like the classic saying says… Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 7 days in a row, it’s a shame we’re so dumb.

This morning we did it again; we blindly allowed Google to take us on tiny windy roads to our destination. What Google thought would take an hour took nearly two because the speed limit on these roads is 60 (how?) and we drive them under 20 in the event of cars coming at us around the blind turns.

Complaints aside, the drives are beautiful and we got to our destination without killing any sheep or expelling any bodily fluids. So, trending up since yesterday.

Our activity today was a hike to see waterfalls in Brecon Beacons National Park. After parking we began the hike and within about 20 minutes, we reached our first waterfall. I taught Millie one of the most important rules of hiking: when you reach a beautiful spot that’s worth stopping at, you have a snack.

I would have been satisfied with this short hike and beautiful view, but everyone was in good spirits so we decided to start the 2-mile walk towards the next one, which promised to be bigger and better than the first. We kept our expectations low and to our surprise, Millie happily kept on going. We passed the time playing a made up version of Scattegories (name three foods that start with A) and galloping like horses.

Finally we walked down the thousands of steps to the big waterfall, and it. Was. Beautiful.

We were even able to walk under it.

We’ve remarked every day for the last 15 days how lucky we’ve been with the weather. Today was as good as hiking weather could be.

Millie enthusiastically put on her bathing suit to swim & play in the water only to find out the temperature was glacial.

We hung out at the bottom for a while before promising lunch at the picnic tables at the top of all the steps. Again, Millie impressed us with her ability to climb by herself, without whining. We stopped and had our sandwiches.

At this point we were very satisfied and continued the loop back to the car. We had a few blips in the otherwise perfect hike: a tumble and lightly scraped knee, a missed turn on the trail, many requests for a shoulder ride, and a new whine unlocked “I just want to be asleeeeeep”. But then we made it back to the car. I checked my phone and we had done almost 5 miles, with plenty of elevation change. Another lesson in parenting: kids are more capable than you give them credit for.

We completely broke our rule and got called by the siren song of an English Bitter at the local village pub. For anyone counting at home… we went two days. We rationalized it because it’s the only money we spent all day, and we deserved it after the hike. How could we say no to these vibes? Cracker Barrel wishes.

Millie drew this picture of the three of us at the waterfall.

And we wised up and took the big roads home for another home cooked dinner.