Mountain Man

I have been delinquent in my posts and feel so far behind. I need to highlight November because so many special things happened that I really want to remember. I will start my diary with memories of our trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with my parents.
My parents rented a log home timeshare for a week and invited us to join them. It was such a beautiful home and anyone who knows me, knows that a week of hiking in beautiful mountains is a glorious vacation for me. (My favorite past hiking experience was in Yosemite National Park hiking to the top of Half Dome mountain.) Anyway, I was slightly apprehensive about how this "hiking" experience would go with 2 children under the age of 3. But, at the same time, I want to teach my children to love and appreciate the outdoors as much as Tom and I do. I also want them to enjoy the physical exercise of long hikes and excursions without feeling overwhelmed and becoming whiney.
All in all, the hiking experience could not have gone better. Will was such a trooper and hiked about 3 miles per day without complaining one bit. The rest of the time was spent either in the stroller or on our back. He hiked some steep areas and kept up. I think he loved it as much as we did. He kept saying in a very proud voice, "I hike!" My parents were very helpful with him as well and turned things into a game when necessary. The only tricky part was that Will potty trained himself 3 days before we went on our trip and I was so nervous about how to keep up the momentum in such a "different environment". Even that went fine which was a big relief!

Natalie was a perfect angel as always. That girl really never complains. You can put her through things that would stress out even the happiest baby and she rarely makes a peep. She even had a cold and a cough. She spent most of the time sleeping on Tom's back or sipping out of my mom's water bottle. I think her cold made her thirsty because even though I was feeding her plenty she really seemed to want water to drink as well. She was quite proud of her ability to sip water from the bottle!

Most of our days were spent hiking and then we spent a few evenings in Gatlinburg walking around and eating dinner. We were lucky enough to have the Christmas Lights come on the day before we left. It was so pretty!

My parents loved on Natalie the whole time. I think she reminds them of my sister or something. She received an awful lot of well-deserved attention!

Big girl on Daddy's back.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a wonderful trip!