Winter, already?

We had our first snow of the year on Wednesday, so I left work early to play in the snow with Charlie. He didn't really know what to do once we were outside. I don't think he realized he could walk through it; I plopped him down in the snow and he stood there for a few minutes making some whimpering noises. After a little while he got used to it though, and I think he had a fun time. I just thought he was so cute in his winter gear.

Julie and Charlie enjoying some hot chocolate and marshmallows before we head outside.



Charlie's first time in snow pants.

Charlie kind of helping me start the snowman.

My Lil Helper

Charlie's helping me pack my hospital bag, but not without playing with these things first. Can you guess what they are?!

Fall Friday Afternoon at the Park :)

Daddy met us at the park after work, coming straight there on his bike. Charlie's modeling Daddy's bike helmet!

Climbing the ladder. This is all the farther he got, thank goodness. :)

Taking interest in the playground equipment! Past park visits were usually dominated by sticks, rocks, and woodchips.

My Little Guy!

Piling up said woodchips on the slide... Margaret Park is such a cute little park and it's only a short walk away from our house. Lots of green open space, playground equipment that's suitable for younger kids, and mature shade trees. The only thing I would add would be a few swings, but we have a swing at home, so it all works out. I enjoy the park so much more in the fall than the summer!!

Wedding Weekend in Denver

My cousin got married on October 15th in Denver, so my parents drove down and flew my sisters in for the weekend. It was a really neat time together! Very fast, but so much fun. Beautiful wedding, beautiful weekend.

Wednesday Funny

This picture was taken back on October 5th, but I just think it's funny for so many reasons: my belly is huge and white, Charlie's hair looks extra mullet-ish, it appears as though I can hardly see my son over the largeness of my belly, and it looks as though Charlie's hand could get swallowed up by the "grand canyon" of my belly button. :)

Oh, pregnancy memories. One of these days, this pregnancy WILL be just a memory and we'll be holding our tiny one in our arms!!

The Appalachian Trail

Start of the Appalachian Trail at Fontana Dam. The trail covered 72 miles throughout The Great Smokey Mountain National Park with a combined 18.660 feet of elevation gain.
Below is a look at Fontana Dam.

I thought this tree looked cool.

We couldn't have timed the fall colors any better. In the lover elevations there was still some green, but at the higher elevations some the leaves had already fallen.

One of many breaks that first day. That was our biggest ascent we did throughout the entire trip; probably a 3,000 foot climb.

A salamander in the pool we filled our water bottles in. The Smokies are well known for the diversity of salamanders, something like 23 different species.

We were required by the Park Service to stay in shelters along the AT. This is a picture of the first shelter we slept in. They are three walled buildings with a porch built on them. Good accommodations.

On the way to Clingman's Dome, the high point of the hike.

Again, the fall colors along the trail.

So this is what the inside of one of the shelters looked like. Like a giant bunk bed, it slept six on the bottom and six on top. We never knew who we would be sleeping with at night. Inevitably someone snored incredibly loud. I will say this though, you can meet some very interesting and very strange people at the shelters.

I took this picture because Julie and I had lunch at this spot when we visited the park a couple of years ago. This point is only a couple of miles from Clingman's Dome.

This is where I start the Journey by myself. After two and a half days, Gabe and Doug couldn't do it physically anymore so I finished the last 35 miles on my own. It would have been fun to have some hiking companions, but I still had a great time.

A timer photo on Charlie's Bunion. The first full day on my own I covered 20 miles to make up for lost time the first couple of days.

The bears in the park were really keying in on these berries. Here I actually got a photo of one up in a tree.

The last day on the hike out there was some drizzle, but it gave me an opportunity to take so good fog pictures.

The end of the trail.

Fact.

Charlie ate his first apple today!! Yep, over 18 months old and I haven't given him an apple yet - until this morning, when we visited a local apple orchard with some friends from our bible study group. I had to take pictures with my phone, but I think some of them turned out really well! I'll try to get them posted this weekend. We're trying to keep busy now that Matt's gone until Wednesday. A warm "fall" morning at the apple orchard was a perfect outing!!