We went on our first family-of-five hike! Brother has been wanting to see some real caves, so Charming and I tried to fulfill that wish. After searching the internet, this hike was the nearest caves we could find. Unfortunately, they weren’t the kind you could walk inside and explore which is what Brother wanted the most (although he was fascinated and frightened by the idea all at the same time).

Even though the “caves” weren’t what we’d hoped, we all had a wonderful time enjoying nature. Seeing slugs. And spider webs. Seeing more slugs. Being carried by Mom and Dad. Accidentally stepping on slugs. Using head lamps and flashlights. Walking through tree stumps. Wearing our emergency whistles. And seeing more slugs.

We were especially impressed that Brother hiked almost the entire time (a total of 2 miles) and he carried our first aid kit to boot! It cracked me up to watch Boots kicking back and relaxing on Daddy’s back while eating/snacking/drinking pretty much the entire time. And Baby was a great sport. All he wanted was to be at home sleeping in his bed, but he made the best of sitting in the new Ergo carrier I was testing out.

And speaking of carrying babies… I absolutely loved the Ergo. But my hips did not. :( Actually, it was more like my hips didn’t like the hike (especially the incline parts) or the Ergo. And by the time I hobbled to the van, my whole pelvis felt like jello and both hips reverberated with a deep, pounding ache with every step I took. If it weren’t for the walking stick Charming found for me, he would have had to carry me back to the van. By the end, I had a great love for that little walker that mother nature had provided for me in my time of need.

It was a great time, though! If the weather holds out, Charming may try to take the boys on some more. And hopefully by next year, I’ll be healed and stable enough to try again. I’ll also be smarter– and have a packed “hike bag” full of headlamps, flashlights, whistles, emergency orange bandannas, etc., etc. all ready to grab and go, so I can have peace of mind and convenience without the hassle of gathering and putting away everything from our 72-hour kits each time.

Now without further ado, here is “The Caves Hike”…

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Mommy’s favorite part: “Seeing the dinosaurs with over-the-top excited Brother and Boots (who went to the dinosaur exhibit three times!).  Lots of time with smiley, snuggly, sweet Baby.  Watching Charming play with Brother and Boots in the playground.  Lots of one-on-one time visiting with a wonderful friend.” :)

Brother’s favorite part: “The tyrannosaurus rex!”

Boots’ favorite part: “Velociraptor!  Dinosaur pit Daddy.  Dinosaur pit Brodeh.  Dinosaur pit Boot.”

[Translation: "Velociraptor!  Dinosaur spit at Daddy.  Dinosaur spit at Brother.  Dinosaur spit at Boots."]

Baby’s favorite part: “Oww, ah-ee, ah-ghoo!”

[Translation: "Oh, how I love the world!"]

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Awwww! I realized I never posted these sweet pictures of trying to stay cool during last July’s heat wave.

Sweet Bubbers was only 27 months old and little Scooters was a month-and-a-half old.

What a pair of cuties!!

Hi Everyone!!  It’s time to jump back in time again to last June…  When I was 26 months old and Scooters was only eight days old!  Daddy was still home on paternity leave and Mommy was feeling pretty mobile after her C-section, so we went on our first outing as an official family of four!!

And you know where we went?

The TRAIN STATION!!!

Note: Our enthusiasm looks suspiciously like irritation and shock in the above photo.  But truly, we were enthused.

We waited for a long time, but no trains came–until the very end!!

We were actually loading up the car to go home when Mommy heard the train whistle and we unloaded and booked it to the platform as fast as we could!

“Wook, Daddy!  Wook, Mommy!  A TRAIN!!!”

Then we followed an engine down the tracks a ways.

He was parked and resting.

Note: About this time Mommy realized she’d over-estimated her ability to be mobile and pain free.  She was missing her Percocet.

What a beauty.

“Isn’t she beautiful, Scooters?”

“Scooters?”

Awww, would you look at that?

So sweet and peaceful.

Such a cute curve to his toes.

Little hands.

In the same position they were before he fell asleep.

What a cutie!!

“Hey Ma!  I’ve got a question for you…  What are the chances of you and Daddy grabbing that there locomotive and hefting him into the back of our car to keep forever?”

[I'm afraid the chances of that are mighty slim, Son].

*sigh*

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

Hey, hey, hey–check it out!

Mommy’s finally starting her “Summer Series” posts about all the fun we had in the sun last year! (Give yourself a big pat on the back, Mommy!)

It all began last April…..

….. With a beautiful day that marked the beginning of “summer”.

The day I scooped my first sand ever (I think…).

And the first day of 2009 that I had to wear sunglasses, so you know for sure that summer had come! :)

We met our wonderful playgroup friends at the park down the street and really had some fun!

I went barefoot in the sand!

And got on my first merry-go-round ever!

I was a mite apprehensive at first.

But Mommy taught me how to sit down.

And hold on tight!

Then she’d push it at least .000025 miles an hour and I loved it!

After that, I got tangled in the web climber.

“Hi, Mommy! Someday I’ll be free again!”

“Ha, ha!” says Efan, “You’re so silly!”

Then I was free!!

(And so cute!)

After that, I just hung out.

Holy mackerel–I look so small!

Then we ran around the dry water park all crazy like we were little boys or something. (Ha!)

After that, things got serious.

Very serious.

It was me.

And Efan.

Just. Sitting.

But holy smokes were we cute!!

So Mommy (and Scooters in utero!) just had to get in on the action!

And then all my friends did, too!!

Man–what a fun day.

Mommy and I are so lucky to have such great friends.

Now, if only I knew how to get off this thing…..