Cara's First Hike

So we I decided for my last weekend on maternity leave we should go on a hike. One reason being I wanted to prove I could do a hike after having a baby and another reason being I want to hike more with the kids* as they grow up so why not start early? Plus it keeps us feeling healthy haha.

I pulled out our hiking books to get a good idea of what hikes were near us and would be good for us. I wanted one that was with a waterfall because I love those ones the best. I found quite a few (one of which was recommended by my Dr.) and after discussing them and coming to the conclusion that it was our first hike, our first time taking Cara out in the carrier, and other reasons that it would be best to go with the shortest one - Battle Creek Falls (which happened to be the one my Dr. recommended, funny huh?).

Turns out it was a good thing we picked a shorter hike. It wasn't too bad, but I forgot to grab our water (we had bottle makings for Cara and we covered ourselves in sunscreen and added bug spray to Cara because I'm just that paranoid and careful) so it turns out it's more difficult to hike without water. We used to hike and bring lunches with us so we could eat at our end and I was bummed we didn't bring food this time, but then when we got to the end I realized it would've been hard to eat with Cara since we didn't really have a place to put her and it was pretty busy at the waterfall so it worked out. We got to the waterfall, I took my loads of pictures, we watched for a few minutes, and then hiked back.

On the way up Cara was obsessed with staring at Larry's shirt (she likes to think she can read his shirts haha), but once we got to the waterfall she became intrigued with the sounds and wanted to watch things on the way down. It was so cute to see her curious face as she noticed people and nature passing by.

That curious face...melts my heart!

So overall our first hike was pretty successful, they are a little different than they used to be, but still enjoyable and I'm glad Cara didn't have any fits in the carrier or with all the stuff (sunscreen and bug spray) on her. It was her first time being in the sun for that long so she did really well with that as well and I'm glad we got to get that in. Now to get ready for my last Sunday before I return to work (I can't tell if I'm dreading it or just want to get it done and over with haha).

*and by kids I mean the one we have now with the hopeful thinking we'll have more. Please don't read too much into this particular wording