October 10

Yesterday, Grandma brought the kids souveniers from her trip. They weren't interested. Today, they were all over them!

She got them all Oregon Ducks shirts, and they were thrilled.


These children are hilarious.

Today was Columbus day, which is a bank holiday.

I love bank holidays!

We chose to spend this holiday hiking as a family.

Before we could go, though, we had to stop to buy Daisy a new pair of shoes. Almost all of her shoes are hand-me-downs, and her only pair of running shoes that fit had just broken. Chris and I stopped by the Nike outlet, and Daisy and I picked out two pairs of shoes that she felt really happy about. It was a nice moment.

Then we drove on to the hiking trail we had chosen. We knew it would be a 3.2 mile loop, which was a bit of a stretch for our kids. Add in the fact that it was really hilly, and that we didn't even get started until 11:30, and it was a little bit challenging for everyone to keep a cheerful attitude. Still, we had a lot of fun!

At the trailhead was a lime kiln that was built over 100 years ago. Caleb was really interested.

Are they cute, or what?

Just like our hike the other day, Chris wore Lily on his back and I wore Eli on mine. 

Today, however, Chris also wore a backpack with our lunch and water bottles on his front.

(Don't mind the fact that Lily is totally crooked in that carrier. She still technically fits, though if someone wanted to buy us a toddler-sized Tula, Lillebaby, or Kinderpack so that she - and Eli - could ride more comfortably, we would happily accept.)

Off on our hike! The start was flat, and ran along a creek. Did you notice that Chris had already let Lily down off his back? He is a lot nicer than I am. But then, you already knew that, didn't you.

As Lily excitedly exclaimed, 

"'TEPPING 'TONES!!!"

Apparently Lily loves to hike. She fell a lot.

We had climbed about halfway up our elevation when the kids decided it was lunch time. There were no benches or flat spots, just rocky hillside, so the kids found a rock outcropping and perched there for lunch. See Daisy's cool new kicks?

At the top! We set up my camera for a family picture.

Caleb snapped this one.

Snack break at the top!

Daisy had lots of emotional highs and lows on our hike. She was either cheerful and cooperative and sweet, or crying and fussing that she was tired and she wasn't going any farther. She can be dramatic like that.

I know. You're thinking, "This girl? Dramatic? Never." But you're wrong.  She has lots of drama in her.

Baby on my back selfie!

Walking instead of riding.

Eli fussed for maybe 30 seconds, and then this: 

Sound asleep.

What a sensible baby! I put up the sleep hood on the carrier I was using (borrowed from my babywearing group's lending library), and he slept the rest of the hike.

You can't tell from this picture, but those rocks jutted out over a steep ravine. 

(Don't worry, Mom. No one fell.)

Look at how happy and brave Daisy is!

But then she tripped and fell and hurt her arm, and Chris had to carry her like this the rest of the way down the hill. Drama.

We did it!

But Daisy was still fussing about her arm. Luckily, Caleb has been learning about hiking safety in Cub Scouts, and before his hike last week I helped him create a first aid kit for his backpack.

When we finished the hike, he got out his first aid kid and bandaged Daisy up. No grownups helped or interfered, and it was the sweetest thing ever.

After he put the bandage on, he tenderly asked her, "There. Is that okay?" and she smiled up at him.

And in that moment, I knew that maybe I am doing something right.