Hiking

Donna came to visit us last weekend so we decided to take her hiking.  It's the first time we've gone for more than a short hike with Fiona also.  Saturday morning we got up early and drove out to Fort Hill State Memorial for a guided tour with a NPS Ranger (Bruce) of 2000 year old Indian ruins.  We brought the Bjorn for Fiona and it worked pretty good.  The hike was a little over 2 miles, with a 400 foot elevation increase, that took about 2-2.5 hours total.  We stopped quite a bit on the uphill to look at different plants and animals.  We saw paw-paw, a swallowtail caterpillar and spice bush, plus we heard a rose breasted grosbeak and a warbler.  It was a gorgeous day for a hike and the forest was wonderful.  The trees were over a 100 feet tall (old growth forest).  Fiona fell asleep for about 45 minutes of the hike and entertained herself with rocks and acorns and looking at leaves for the rest.  Every once in awhile she would exclaim "Rock!" or "Leaf!" or "Hike!" as we were walking along.  When we got back we had a picnic in the back of the van.  Fiona's legs had fallen asleep during the walk so she was walking around like a drunken sailor for about 10 minutes after I took her out.

We hadn't quite worn Donna out so Fiona showed her the magnetic drawing board and The Cat in the Hat.

Sunday, Donna and I went to Once Upon a Child to exchange some clothes and found a nice backpack carrier also.  So we tried it out by going to one of the local Metroparks.  We forgot Fiona's shoes so even though this trail was easier and she could have walked some it, she got to ride in back the entire walk.  We took the Adirondack Trail, which was a little over 2 miles again, but much flatter.

 

Lion came along for the hike also...next time he's walking!

Donna's turn to try out the carrier.

Sean preferred the on-the-shoulders method.

A lime Popsicle is a nice way to end the day...it was tart so she'd taste it, take it out, make a funny face and then put it back in again.  :)