Boots!!

I found them. I really, truly did.

Not new ones - heck no. But the good old, tried and true Merrell's I was married in. (LONG, but very sweet, story).

They went missing over a year ago. And now they are back.

Yay!

Wandering through the muck

So Monkee and I went on a little jaunt 2 wknds ago. Just she and I.

I got cold, she didn't

I got stuck in the mud and almost lost a boot; she didn't.

She wanted to go straight up the side of this hugely steep hill; I didn't. (But we went up it anyway and she was great at it.)

We talked and told stories.

I love 4 1/2 yr-olds. They're so interesting! We had a great afternoon.

Busy Weekend

Dinner out with friends, and their kids on Saturday. Dinner with smaller group when our friend cooked, and shared her priest with us. Interesting company, and wonderful food. Nice way to swing into a work week.

Quite a weekend. I'm exhausted.


Here's a few pix of the Saturday adventure...



NOTE - this pix was immediatelu followed by "ok, you two, bottoms on the seat!"

There is another pix of these two little Monkees that was taken by the K-man's dad. I hope he sends it our way. It was too adorable.

We spent a lot of this weekend discussing the upcoming vacation. I feel like we haven't even started to prepare, and it's coming so soon...

Headin' to them thar hills

and Hallelujah for that!

We're bound for the rockies - just for vacation - but we've missed them.
Monkee has never seen them, so we're planning on a daytime arrival, so she can see them slowly "grow" as we near.

We're driving - lord help our gas bills - but we'll be gallavanting around Denver and parts north, so it just makes sense to have our own vehicle. We're sort of "checking out" the vibe, just to see if its really a feasible next stop for us. Neither of thought we'd be here this long, and the mountains are calling. When? Who knows. But we're going to have a good trip, regardless. And hopefully, lots of dayhikes!

Backpack your kid

I bought a Kelty Kid's backpack today!

I pick it up tomorrow. I found it through a mom's association I'm a member of. Its owner bought it last July, used it once, and is selling to me for 1/2 off. Heckuva a deal.

It holds up to 50 lbs of kid, so Monkee can ride on our longer day hikes. I was especially thinking of it for our trip to CO this Spring. We'll want to go off the beaten path, and that means no stroller for tired little legs. Problem solved.

Purpose

I see this blog's purpose as a journal of the backpacking and hiking we do throughout the year. We always try at least one big trip a year. This year, we'll have our daughter with us, her first trip to the mountains. Stay tuned...