I think yesterday it hit over 55 degrees! We went on a few mountain hikes in the spring, but during the summer I was too hot and big. Well, Grace has been asking about hiking in the mountains since then, even with the snow, so we decided yesterday was as good a day as we could get.
Henry was happy to get started.
So we packed up, headed to the canyon, and started our trek to the "G".
I love that Grace's socks match her sleeves.
Grace had a slightly worried look on her face most of the hike. I think she's nervous about heights.
We saw lots of lovely things that are normally covered by ice and snow at this time of year, like the river to the reservoir.
The moon was out - it was late afternoon... probably too late to start a hike.
We took a few wrong turns, but eventually got on the right track.
Aside from the normal freezing temperatures, one of the reasons January hikes probably aren't common is because the sun sets so early!
The trail got pretty steep, much steeper than I expected. We kept trekking! It was fun. Scott and I are both sore today.
With about ten minutes to go before we hit the "G" we realized the sun was kissing the top of the mountain on the other side of the valley. We were both dripping sweat and worried about losing light, so we took our photo-op with the "G" in the background and headed back down.
The worried expression is still there, poor girl. She really enjoyed the hike more than the above picture represents.
When we got to the bottom, it was getting dark. Goodbye G. We may meet again one day, but for now you will remain elusive...
p.s. Whenever Grace sees the G on the mountain she starts singing "G is for Gracie, that's good enough for me..." to the
C is for cookie song melody from Sesame Street.
I think Grace believes snow and Christmas are synonyms. On Sunday morning after we got a light dusting of snow, she was so excited when we got to church she was wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas" as she walked down the hall. Sometimes when Henry wakes up after Grace, she crawls over him and instead of saying "Good Morning" she'll say "Merry Christmas, Henry, Merry Christmas."
More Grace notes: Grace loves Phineas and Ferb, so if you're familiar with that, you'll love this. We stopped at Scott's parents house yesterday and Grace saw Grandpa's giant, hard-core, complicated telescope and matter-of-factly said, "That's Grandpa's inator!"
Grace is super friendly. She meets random people, strangers, adults and kids, and says this rote, "Hi, my name's Grace, I'm twoyearsold, because I'm little."
Today at the McDonald's playplace she was alone with a six year-old girl and immediately became her shadow. Scott overheard her say, "Hi, girly, I love you. You're my best friend. I'm going to come to your house after your nap today... Your mommy and daddy are at work... (after the girl climbed up the slide) *applauding* Good Job! You did it! ..." There was essentially a continual stream of talking from Grace's side. We didn't hear it all. This is just what we caught and remembered.
She often talks about her "Halloween teeth" and how cool or scary they are. She has been telling people lately that it's her birthday and been getting such positive feedback (from strangers or casual acquaintances), I'm not sure how to dissuade her. She always wants to "play chase." She thinks orange plastic cones are "so beautiful." She's been really in to sleeping with toys, but the toys she picks are hard plastic animals or cars... they can't be that comfortable. She's really excited to share a room with Henry. We'll be trying it for the first time tonight. Wish us luck!
