Stacer Days: A fun, fall day with my boys

We spent Tuesday at Lost Maples State Park. It was the maiden voyage for Aaron in the baby-hiking backpack. He loves it. Once we snap him in and start moving he gets a huge grin on his face and is just goofy with glee. He likes looking down on me at his side and he seems to really enjoy bouncing up and down with Daddy's every step. Usually when we go almost everyone we pass makes a comment about out dogs. Sure, they are nice looking hounds, but I think it has more to do with the fact that weimaraners are a breed you don't see everyday. Had they been there (stayed at home this time) they would have been jealous of the attention Aaron was getting.

He may have looked adorable in his little baseball hat and his sunglasses - but it was all functional and practical, and really cute. Next to (behind?) his daddy, he was a mini-me.

It was a day of firsts: first time for Aaron to ride in his new car seat, to go hiking, and first time to be breastfed on the side of a slight cliff in the middle of a forest. That was interesting - and he did much better than I thought he would, as he tends to get quite distracted in new territory. I told Alan maybe I need to feed him in the forest all the time...although the neighbors might have something to say about that.

Last year at this time we went to Lost Maples to see the color change and I was in a slightly different "state."

I thought it would be nice to take a picture of Aaron and I on this same bench. Kind of a lot has changed since then...dogs were replaced with a baby (only this time), I'm not quite as pale, and I got my stomach back. :) Not to mention hiking is a little easier when you you have a visual of your own feet.

Shortly after we finished feeding and got to the top to take the above picture, Aaron fell asleep - while riding in the backpack. It was hilarious. At first I felt bad for him so we stuffed my sweatshirt in there with him to create a pillow. Then I realized that he was semi-comatose and quite happy, so we did what we could to make his ride as comfortable as possible and checked on him periodically and trekked on. It was just a little surprising, funny, and ironic considering that there are days at home that the planets and stars must align for him to take a nap - but here we are in the middle of nowhere, with hardly anyone around, climbing around on rocks, and he falls asleep, correction - passes out - while strapped to his daddy's back. I had to document it, several times...

Poor guy, the rhythm of his daddy's stride, our voices, and the cool breeze was just too much for him.

Here he is just after waking up - we were afraid he would be wrecked after sleeping thirty-something minutes and awaking unsure of where he was or what was happening - but after a minute or so, I got a smile out of him.