Our first hike.

We rode with Mommy to work and then took the car over to Andy's house where he loaded the car seat into his awesome mini van and we drove out to Tryon Creek for a beautiful morning stroll. That was the idea anyway. The little boys had other ideas about what the definition of 'fun' is when in the out-of-doors. But really, we've come to expect the unexpected from our spawn. See, I was talking to a new guy at daddy's group this last Tuesday about where there are good places to introduce toddlers to the wonders of just walking for the sake of walking. I'd read that Tryon has a 'toddler' trail and he said that he loves to take his little boy, Aidden(?), there. So, I told Andy and we decided to head out the next morning.
It was great having Baron in a vehicle with another kid. Ollie's car seat is rear facing and BAron's is forward facing so they were really able to see each other and interact better. They actually high-fived each other!!! It was so cool! They're awesome.
But hiking didn't really worked out the way we had hoped. Baron and Ollie were much more interested in sticks and leaves on the trail and things that were off the trail than actually getting anywhere. If they had their way we'd probably still be there, playing with sticks and leaves. Oh well, it's a start.
But THEN.... Andy took us to the Elephant playground up by the zoo at the Rose Garden. It was the most awesome non-wood structure playground I've ever seen! It was HUGE!! Baron loved it. He started on the swings and then went right up the steps to the top and ran and ran and went down the slides and then climbed up the slides and ran and ran and laughed and wore my butt down to nuthin'. I definitely need Mommy to come with us next time. Andy was busy with Ollie and Baron wanted down the slides and I couldn't really go down the slides with him (believe me, I tried and it wasn't pretty.) so I'd set Baron on the slide and try to jump down to the bottom before he could slide off of the slide. I'm not as graceful as I used to be. And I wasn't that graceful then, either. So, yeah, Mommy's going next time.
The Daddy Play Group is going on a field trip to OMSI next Saturday, but that's also the weekend when my dad is coming down to visit. We'll see if we can work something out. Maybe Papo and Nana Mentzer would like to watch Lil' Bear tear OMSI down! I've wanted to take him there for a while now. And it's the place where I'd really like to get a membership so we can go play inside anytime. But, we've never been to the Children's Museum and I hear that it rocks. We'll just have to save our pennys and go to the Children's Museum before we make a decision. Soon......