The weather really cooperated in October so we headed out for a few hikes. We got to see the peak of the foliage in the Ozarks, and it was better than in the past two years. The late season rains helped the trees tolerate the drought we've been experiencing.
I got Jack to sit still here with Jillian, not swing this stick around, and not fall off the cliff in the background. It was a great hike, but it started to get cold, and it was through an area where there are bears, so not everyone enjoyed it.
Here we're going over our bear sighting strategy while we have a snack. There are a few shelters along this trail, and we got a chance to take some more pics.
You can get a feel for the landscape in this photo. The area surrounding this "mountain" is rolling hills and valleys. Not the really rough landscape, and deep "hollers" you'd see in the south west and north east corners of the state.
The following weekend it was back to the trails, but in short sleeves. Jillian co-operated again, so I think she'll be a good hiker. Jack took this photo.
While hiking he's got to have a hiking stick / weapon / sword, and has to pick up a rock every few feet to throw in whatever creek we are about to cross.
Here's the little Spartan at the entrance to one of the caves along this trail. Most of the bigger public access caves are still closed to protect the bats from spread of some kind of disease that's bothering them (I think it's called white-nose syndrome).
Jack got tired on this one and fell down a few times. I ended up having to carry him on my shoulders. So that's 37lbs and a 10lb pack. An ok workout. Jacqui gets to carry Jillian.
More hiking through bear territory. We saw lots of bear poop, scrapes and other sign, but were careful to make enough noise, as not to surprise any. It's the last of the hikes for a while, as we'll not get out there again until after deer hunting season. That's probably for the best, because on this particular day, Jack decided to drop-trou in the parking lot, about 20 feet from the lodge (and bathroom), to "unload his wagon" as they say. Yes, he left a full turd in broad daylight, right in the parking lot, without even mentioning it might be time to go.
Jillian is putting on some weight, has been sleeping through the night, usually 9:30 till 5am. She also gets a pretty good cat-nap in from 6 till 9 before her bottle. Not much snoozing at school though, as her daily report card shows her averaging a few 30 or 45 minute naps during the day.
Daddy's little girl started making a few more sounds, and is getting a bit louder when she "talks".
Here's Jack on his way to church. No, just kidding. Here he is with Shelly the Skelleton, in costume as his favorite hero, Spiderman, for Halloween. He's still is a big fan of the supers, particularly Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. He's also loving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (because of the karate and sword fights), knights fighting dragons (because of the sword fights), and Ninjago's because of the swords and fighting. We have a weekly stick fight in the back yard, and most of the time do it in slow motion like in the tv shows. We had been fighting with swords, but Jack recently cracked mine in half with a full swing. He's still apologizing because he knows we can't have the fights with it any more.
Enjoying a trail-side snack.
Neither one of these kids is enjoying this.
An arm-load of rocks and sticks while hiking.
Hope you liked the photos. Next month I don't know what we'll be doing, other than celebrating Thanksgiving and getting the Christmas tree. Maybe we'll have some southern-style fixins and will share that experience with you. Hope you have a great holiday.
