Jolee’s version of grace before meals:
Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy brownie, through Christ our Lord. Amen
She hasn’t done it in awhile, but she used to pause after the brownie line and excitedly proclaim, “We love brownies!”
Hopefully I’ll catch it on video one of these days.
June was younger than Jolee is now, but she used to spend a lot of time in her jogging stroller running with me in Durham. I rarely run on smooth surfaces anymore, so I haven’t spent nearly as much time with Jolee outdoors as I did with June. Until recently.
Turns out Jolee loves our baby carrier backpack. She is content to sit in the thing for hours. I’ve been taking her hiking a lot lately and I can’t overstate how much fun it is. I’m actually getting teary-eyed just writing this because I enjoy it so much and I know I won’t be able to carry her up mountains on my back for very much longer.
Jolee is at the sweetest age. She is talkative, energetic, curious, and wonderfully thoughtful. Hearing her deliver in her soft voice an unprompted and usually unnecessary apology—“Sorry. My fault. That was my fault”—just about melts my heart.
While we hike we just talk the whole way. This is some of her typical commentary:
“I’ll gobble you up, Dad.”
“Are there monsters in the woods?”
“Don’t give up! Keep on going!”
“Where’s Baldy? Where’s Mountain Guyot? Where’s Mountain Royal?”'
“We won’t get rained on.”
“I want to see the valley.”
“I see the top. We’re almost there. Then we’ll see the view!”
“What did you say to her?” – she asks this anytime I say hello to someone on the trail
“This is amazing!”
“That was a great hike!”
“Is that Father Bear over there?” – asked today on our hike and it freaked me out. I had to make sure she didn’t really see a bear. She didn’t.
Today I said, “Excuse me,” as we passed another hiker along the way. Jolee thought “excuse me” was only for burps and sneezes and the like, so we ended up having a solid 15 minutes of discussion on the topic. She informed me, at least twenty times, that “If you’re sick, you sneeze, and then you say ‘excuse me.’” I never would have thought exhaustive analyses of such seemingly mundane topics would be so enjoyable.
So until we’re snow covered again or she tires of the backpack, we’ll keep on exploring the wilderness together, and I’ll keep posting pictures of our journeys. Here are the latest:
at the trail head yesterday preparing for a hike up Humbug Hill…
the view from the backside of Humbug Hill on American Gulch Rd…
Mt. Guyot from the top of Humbug…
Baldy in the distance…
Baby sunbathing and Jolee digging for snacks…
A good portion of the Ten Mile Range…
and today’s hike at Lilypad Lake…
Adrienne and June are in Florida, so I decided with fewer distractions it was a good time to convert Jolee’s crib to a “big girl bed.” She only fell out of bed twice last night and sustained no serious injuries, so I consider that a success. She napped today without incident and is now asleep for the night. So far I haven’t heard any loud thumps.
Rocco seems to like the new bed too…
We had plans to go on a date to a playground and then attend a concert in the park tonight in Frisco, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Instead, we watched an episode of Clifford, ate dinner, and then had sundaes to celebrate her move to a cribless life.
not sure if she’s trying to share her sundae with Big Boy or taunt him with it…
Today I hiked with Jolee up Mount Royal in Frisco. It’s a strenuous hike that ascends nearly 1,400 feet in 2 miles, but wonderful views await at the top, assuming you stay awake. My passenger fell asleep a minute or two from the summit…
awake and at the bottom…
a quick picnic lunch…
And some photos from our first trip up Mount Royal a week or two ago, when she stayed awake the whole way…
