First Family Hike

I will totally admit to hating hiking prior to living in Seattle. I will even admit to hating hiking for about the first year that I lived here. I will finally admit, I really enjoy and like it now. I don't know if I will go as far to say that I love it quite yet. Today, we went for our first family hike. We decided to be less than ambitious and went to Tiger Mountain, about 20 minutes outside the city. We figure that we would start small because if it didn't go well we could bail if we needed to.

It went surprising really well. I was concerned because Mae does not absolutely love being in a carrier for a long extended time. Of course, with a 7 month year old baby something is bound to not be ideal. First, we did not bring diapers and of course Mae pooped at the beginning of the hike. I am happy to say that my child does not mind sitting in her own stank so I did not worry about it. Second, when we returned to the car (after Mae being in the Ergo for about three hours and Pearson and I both carrying her on our fronts and backs), she was soaked in sweat from us. Ewwww! We changed her from head to toe immediately when getting to the car.

Other than that, she was not at all like her mom and LOVED it. I watched her as Pearson carried her for the second half of the hike. She enjoyed taking in all the wildlife, plants, and trees. She enjoyed the sun shining through the trees and the shadows from the light. She enjoyed the chirps of the birds and the water from the creek. And I hope she enjoyed it for the same reason reason I enjoy it. You get to slow down and connect with each other without the rush of obligation, the noise of industry, the distraction of technology, or the commotion of life.