Kylie May Tackles the Mountain Day 358

What do Everest, Kilimanjaro, and Whitney all have in common?  Yeah. I know. They are all fairly tall mountains.  What about besides that?  Yeah. Yeah. Kylie has climbed them all....that's another easy one.  What else?  Fine. I'll give it away.  The common thread is that none of those three ant hills were the one billy goat may ascended today.  Which one did she climb then?  I'm sure you've heard of it.  It's called Mountain View (okay so maybe that's just the street name and I haven't the slightest idea what the hill is called).  Inspired by Frodo or Bilbo (pick your favorite), our little hobbit scaled Mordor (I mean Mountain View) like a swarm of Dementors (Yes. I just mixed Lord of the Rings with Harry Potter) was hot on her heels.  Seated comfortably in her back pack, she watched as all 8 dogs (did I mention we went with a group of 9 people and 8 dogs) raced around every turn.  Kylie loved being part of the pack.  One thing we learned, (actually re-learned) is that Kylie is a doer not a watcher.  After 15 minutes of hiking in the pack she decided she was ready to scale the trail on her own two feet (while holding Nat and my hands....of course).  It meant a little extra effort on our part, but it gave her a nice workout.  The whole escapade required backpacking, shoulder riding, carrying, walking, and nursing to get to the bottom, but I'd say Kylie's first hike was a smashing success.

Since man does not live on hiking alone (or something like that), we had to find other interesting things to fill the day.  Nat was busy sleeping off the "night shift fog", so that left me in charge of entertaining Kylie.  A dangerous thought? Sometimes.  Let's see.  I couldn't find any crickets, there was no food to cook, we read all her books, so...
 I only had one good idea (self designated) left.  Play outside in the dirt.  In hindsight was it my best idea?  I'd like to think it was up there. :-) She did end up with clothes covered in mud and a mouthful of dirt (ok. maybe it was more than one), but lets keep some perspective.  She had a blast, and that's what really matters.  Plus, I was able to get the yard work done.  That is a good new fashioned win-win.

Needless to say Kylie was spent, which meant a good day of napping.  She didn't go down for the night though without trying a few new foods (none of which she liked very much). She got to try tomato, plums, black olive, and kale.  Of the four, only the plum and olives actually got swallowed.  The kale and tomato lasted on her tongue for about a microsecond before coming right back out.  What a surprise, right? the sweet and salty foods were the two that she enjoyed.  I guess we'll just keep working on refining the palate....but not tonight.

more to come soon,

Craig

p.s. A week from today our Kylie May turns one year old.  We can't believe it.  Unfortunately, it also means the winding down of the blog. :-( Since we look forward to sharing it with our little busy bee someday, Nat and I wanted to extend an invitation.  There have been so many of you that have read and followed this crazy saga over the last year, and we think it would be fun if you shared some of your thoughts, memories, anecdotes, opinions, or anything else you want, so that one day (when she actually learns to read) she can see who the people were that watched (in blog land) as her first year of life unfolded.  It would be great if you emailed a little something to Nat or I and then we can attach a compilation to her last big blog entry next week. Thanks!

craig.johnson.m@gmail.com
nat.ann.johnson@gmail.com

"Let's go mom. I'll drag you if I have to"

"I'm pretty sure the trail picks up again somewhere around here."

"Is it just me or does this picture make me look really small compared to my parents?"

"This is why I came.  The view from the top."

"Don't worry dad.  I'll be right here behind you if you need anything."

"Dad. Sshh. I think we're being followed."

"Quick.  Catch those dogs."