Turkey Creek

The other day Matt and I decided that we wanted to go on a hike.  The temperatures were in the upper 90's and hit one hundred the day before so when we saw it was going to be in the high 80's we decided this was our chance.  Jenny had let us borrow one of her baby backpacks and it had this great canopy you could attach so Ethan would be completely shaded.  We tried him out in it at home and he was laughing and just having the best time in it so we thought why not?  Kyle came over with his new dog Griz so we threw the dogs in the back and set out on our way to a place called Turkey Creek.  This place has a great meaning since it was the place Matt asked me to marry him.  We had hiked up to the very top and he dropped on one knee right there and asked, so I was excited to go back.  Not to mention its just a really nice fun hike.  The trail is mostly shaded except one tiny part so it wasn't so bad.  Both dogs kept taking every opportunity they could to jump in the water and cool off.  Tuck had a blast chasing lizards which at first we couldn't figure out why he kept sprinting through the bushes, we figured he was just seeing things.   Ethan did great, he looked so cute in the backpack with his tiny shades on.  At one point I saw his little head bouncing around and so we stopped and sure enough he had fallen asleep.  How I will never know because it was not a smooth ride by any means.  The backpack had a little mirror on a rope and when we first pulled it out Matt said "look babe a signaling mirror how cool" to which I replied "I think you actually use that to look at the baby."  I had to laugh he is always in survivor man mode.  But it came in handy and was fun to take a peek and see that cute little face.  Griz had run off so Matt gave me the backpack and him and Kyle went searching.  Ethan is a heavy boy but looking back in the mirror and seeing that cute face helped me truck that last mile to the car.  They found Griz so all ended well it was a great trip!

Ready for our hike!

Adventure baby in style

Passed out

Since we have a crawler now some adjustments had to be made to baby proof the place.  At first he was scared to venture off the carpet, but quickly he figured out how to crawl on the hard wood and then it was over.  His favorite is to open the entertainment cabinet doors and pull all of Matt's place station cords out.  So we now have ties so he can't pull them open.  Then he decided well I can move the end tables around and almost knocked a lamp off.  So the tables are on the carpet now, he has yet to figure out how to move them thankfully.  Then the other day he saw Tuckers bowl in the kitchen and that was it he started going for it.  I let out a Ethan James warning and the little bugger giggled and bee lined it for the bowl as fast as he could.  I barely caught it before he flipped it over.  After repeating that twice the baby gate went up.   It was funny when he first realized he couldn't get past it, he just sat up and started to cry.    He is so curious about EVERYTHING that anything he can get his hands on he will.  So we were excited when a surprise gift came in the mail.  My aunt Kathy had sent him a happy crawling present and it is this cute little sesame street car.  It helps them to walk or they can ride on it.  It keeps him semi distracted for at least a few minutes before he figures out how to get in more mischief!

Naughty cord puller

My new toy!