Oh A Hiking We Will Go

Our hiking trip was a great success today!

 Ayden has been sleeping better and has been in a stellar mood the past few days.  We are so glad to be out of that little rough patch.  He slept the whole way there in the car, took a decent nap on the way back down the mountain and slept a little more on the way home.  On the way there I read some of Mocking Jay to David and on the way home we meal planned and made the grocery list.  We all enjoyed the quiet, sleepy time.

Ayden in our framed backpack was the talk of the trail.

Everyone we passed said something like, "He's living the high life!" or "I need something like that in my size!"  And of course, he was Mr. Social, it was pretty funny.  We also passed a few other babies.  There was a six month old snoozing away in a soft structured carrier and a FOUR WEEK OLD in a wrap.  The mom, obviously only 4 weeks postpartum, was trucking along with her husband and three older children.  I suppose if you are on your fourth child, letting your body heal for 6 weeks is a joke...  My midwife would have killed me if I had gone for a big hike at only 4 weeks postpartum but, to be honest, I would have been up for it.  Not only did I feel great physically by 4 weeks but I also was completely stir crazy by then and a hike would have felt amazing!

We saw a lot of beautiful things out there in nature.  There were a lot of neat erosion patterns and rock formations,

the view from the top was beautiful

and there were also the little things like caterpillars and bubbling streams to admire. The air was fresher out there and the sounds of the woods are alway so calming.

When we got back we met up with our friends Whit and Kellen for some delicious dinner at their house and then enjoyed a round of mini golf.

It was past Ayden's bedtime but the black/strobe lights and loud music were giving him way too much to look at and listen to; so he fought falling asleep for a little while but finally gave in.  Attempting to golf with Ayden strapped to my front was tricky at first but by the end I had figured out a few adjustments and did *better* than when we started.  David and Kellen tied, Whitney came in next with Ayden and me in last place.

I plan to come back to this post and add some pictures from our DSLR but I'm too tired to mess with all of it tonight (We need to move some files over to our external hard drive, then import, etc.).  I'll add a link to a future post once I get around to it so you can come back and see some of the beauty through a better lens.

Tomorrow is our niece's birthday party.  I can't believe she is one already... She is only 4 months older than Ayden!  His first birthday will be here before we know it, especially with the holiday season creeping up on us. This year has really flown by!!

~Sarah