A Mountain Weekend

Thursday night after work we drove to Hume Lake to visit Gary and Rose one last time before the baby arrives. Our plan was that we would drive at night and not have to make as many stops because the kids would sleep more. This worked, mostly. Lukas woke up after sleeping for 1.5 hours, complaining of his back hurting. After two stops, we figured out that reclining the seat would make his booster seat more comfortable (we hadn't taken a long trip with him in a booster seat before). After that, he was sleeping or quiet the rest of the way. Natalie did great!

It's so relaxing to stay at their home: we can walk around the lake or around the subdivision. Since we brought the double stroller this time, we did more hill walking, since Lukas has less tolerance for that...but it's quite a challenge to control and push the stroller on hills with its longer wheelbase. Probably we'll stick with a single stroller and backpacks for kids who don't walk in the future...and those who can walk, will.

Here are some pictures from our trip. One of Lukas' highlights is winding Uncle Gary's clock on Sunday morning. The moment we arrive, he asks about it, knowing it gets wound every Sunday. This time, Natalie looked on, anticipating when she'll be able to share in the honor.

On the way home, we went out the south entrance--which I haven't done in 15 years--to visit the General Sherman tree. The trail to the tree is completely new and very steep. We took the stroller, after reading the sign that says there are "several flights of steps"...there were more than several...maybe 15? But each flight was just four steps, so we carried the stroller over the four steps each time...still much faster than making Lukas walk and carrying Natalie. When we got to the tree, the kids and I waited at the handicapped parking area for Tom to walk back up to the car and come around to pick us up...again, much faster than pushing the stroller up and carrying it over flights of steps. Next time will be with older kids who are walking! The drive out of the park is not as pleasant because the road has many hairpin turns and is much more curvy than the north entrance...but I drove so I wouldn't get carsick.

Whew! And I made it home without going into labor! What a blessing. Now we'll stay close to home until the baby arrives...next time we visit them will be with three kids.