This is how we roll...

Michael and I both grew up loving, no...adoring the outdoors. One of my earliest memories is going camping at Jacob's Lake with my folks in our tent trailer (later to be updated to a real trailer, the Trailer of Immaculate Hygeine Tools, complete with shower, toilet, stove, etc, etc. Ahhh, those were the days...), and making friends with squirrels taller than I was. And because I didn't contract rabies, I'm still around to help Michael and I make sure Aedan has that same opportunity.

We took him on his first hike the day before Thanksgiving, in the South Mountain area in Phoenix. Seeing as it was a smashing success, we went just a few weeks later (and remembered the camera this time...). This time we went to Lost Dutchmen State Park in the Superstition Mountains in Eastern Arizona. It was an imposing task...


But Mike strapped on the baby carrier,

and I the water pack,
and off we went. Once again Aedan absolutely loved it. He sits in the pack and hums to himself the whole way, intermittently piercing the air with a squeal that means "I need more granola bar pieces please!". Mom obliges, and he goes back to studying intently every rock, bush, and bunny in our path. We've learned to just relax and go with the flow. When he's done, we're done, and everybody's happy.
The whole way down Aedan kept playing a game with Mike. He'd arch his head backward to make sure Dad was still the one carrying him, and Mike would attack him with fuzzy-faced kisses. Aedan couldn't get enough of it.


































When we were done, we introduced Aedan to dirt. We thought it was high time as almost one-year-olds need to get to know this important friend. And as all almost one-year-olds do upon meeting dirt, he promptly ate handfuls of it before we could stop him.

We can't wait for the next one. And for bored non-Arizonans', here's a link to the mysterious Lost Dutchmen story here.

P.S. Yes, we are hiking in T-shirts in November. Take that!