Monday, September 8, 2008

Caleb's First Hike

Last Monday, Labor Day, Sharon and I finally decided that Caleb was ready for his first real hike with mom and dad. Well, when I say decided, I mean that it just so worked out that Caleb and his hiking backpack were in the same location for the first time this summer - so we actually could go hiking with him. We were a little nervous to see how much he would like his backpack (which was another one of our wonderful Seminary freebies...thanks Sara Just), but he ended up loving it more than we could have hoped. He spent most of the 2-3 mile hike up Sawnee Mountain (more of a glorified hill) smiling from cheek to cheek and checking out everything around him. The only problem was that the backpack wasn't designed great for sleeping in, and by the end of the excursion that was all he wanted to do. He eventually fell asleep so that his entire face was mashed up against the side of the backpack in a very uncomfortable looking manner. Fortunately for Caleb, Sharon had mercy on him and decided to carry him in her arms the last 10 minutes of the hike. Overall, it was a great introduction to hiking for Caleb and resparked my dream of hiking the Appalachain Trail with him in a few (or maybe twenty) years.

In other news, Caleb was also excited about the start of the football season. As you can see in the picture below, his "Steeler" face needs a bit of work - but at least his outfit is top-notch. We didn't quite think he was ready to join Koerber World Fantasy Football this year - as we thought it would be better for him to wait a year or two before embarrassing his family. For the time being, he is rooting hard for the Steelers when not napping during the games. Caleb has also started to crawl/scoot around the house, and we'll share some fun videos of that in the next post.


Caleb enjoyed holding on to the straps just like his dad

Unfortunately, the hat that kept the bugs away also blocked his vision a bit
Enjoying the view with Daddy


I love hiking!


Our family at the top of "rugged" Sawnee Mountain
Still a momma's boy
Sleeping in the backpack = not too comfortable :(
Sleeping on mommy = much better :)
I asked him to make an "intimidating" Steeler face and this was the best he could do?

5 comments:

Rachel said...

BOO Steelers!! I don't know if we can be friends anymore...I'm a Browns fan for life. :) But Caleb's poor face! I laughed out loud when I saw him sleeping in the backpack, it does not look comfy at all!!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures! Caleb seems to really enjoy the experience. I love his "toothy smile." How long did the hike take? Was Mike tired after hiking with an extra 24 lbs.? Go Steelers--You've got another fan!! O.K. now sending movies of Caleb crawling. Love, Mom K

Ali Kat said...

He's so freakin' huge!!! Such cute pics. Hiking with Beth at that age was a lot easier since she was about 8 pounds less ;) We used the sling and then the sleeping worked really well!

Megan said...

Gosh I just want to squeeze him and get a big toothy smile. I felt like that before spending a week with him, but now even more!

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