Down, Set, Hike!!!

Autumn here is completely intoxicating: the cool air, the occasional rain shower, and the incredible vibrant colors of the leaves changing. California has nothing on this.

Since Steve finished his first block of med school (yay!!!) last Thursday and had a completely study-free weekend, we decided to make the most of it and head out for good hike on Friday. We borrowed a baby backpack from the Pearsons. Gracie saw her BFF Abby there, and was SUPER excited--they were both screaming like banshees--but cried for five minutes when we drove away without wearing out their playtime.

We trekked out to Hanging Rock with only a couple of wrong turns... It was only supposed to be an hour drive, but as Google has deserted us here on the East coast, we foolishly followed their directions which lead us not to the state park but to a dead end road by a large goat farm. Steve was pretty ticked and vowed (once again) never to trust google maps out here.

When we finally got there we gave Gracie a quick change. (She found this pretty funny.)

Then Steve strapped her into the Cadillac of baby carriers and we hiked up the mountain. It was perfect--just the right distance and difficulty to get our hearts going but not too bad, and with a fabulous payoff at the end. It was a little foggy, but we could still see an ocean of orange and yellow trees way down below us. They were so bright and gorgeous they almost looked like they were on fire.

Gracie had a fabulous time, even though she was strapped in wrong for about half of the hike and had most of her caboose hanging off to one side. She loved the change of scenery, and picnicking on a banana ("nana") at the peak.

When we'd had our fill of the vista we packed Gracie back up for the trip down (so much easier and faster!) and then happily collapsed in the car.

We had a hard time keeping Gracie awake in the car, and by the time we got home we were all so tired that Steve and I crashed on the bed and watched Top Chef while Gracie napped, even though it was way early in the afternoon still. We topped off the evening with dinner with the Pearsons (reuniting the babies, much to their joy and amusement), then what Steve describes as the perfect night: the girls split off to watch a chick flick, the boys played a zombie video game, and then we met up afterward to play cards. :) Pretty much a perfect day.