Day Hiking North Carolina

All 11! Gates is in the Ergo Evye is wearing. You can't really see much of him...or any of him at all....but he's in the pic too. Sweet baby boy. Almost 6 weeks old. It goes so fast.

We have discovered the intense love of hiking. Destinations here are quite endless, it takes us far away from the public eye, science covers any and every age, it's absolutely amazing to disappear into the rivers and hills, and...it's just fun. We're not nearly as limited as I thought we would be with a brand new baby and I am close to mastering the art of nursing in an Ergo while still on the move....a bit of necessity when one is attempting to get an entire portion of trail done within a day. Apparently it is not quite the norm for a 3 year old tiny girl to be able to hike entire 4 mile sections of trail and then go on to conquer yet more. Park rangers and visitor center employees were a bit astounded by both 4 year old Gavin's and 3 year old Ivye-girl's ability to hike 2 different sections within a day for a grand total of 5.5 miles. Granted, I'm sure many more could be covered without children in tow, but I'd say for some rocky, root woven, seriously hilly terrain we manage to do pretty well...and park employees seemed to be of the same mindset. They were a bit in awe.

So, as a result, we now have a hiking day each week in which we spend the week before researching and mapping out new places to go within about a 60 mile radius. Due to the amazing campsites we have discovered we have now begun our journey to becoming a camping family. That should be fairly interesting. So it is that we search craigslist for family sized tents...and then a few....and camping supplies....and we begin our journey of getting one with nature. But let it be known that being unified with nature also involves bringing along a Walmart toilet....cause it just ain't happenin if there ain' t a functional toilet involved.

This week Eno River State Park was on the agenda....all 4200 acres of it. We discovered 5.5 miles of it....which I'm fairly certain is about 1/32 of just the eastern side alone.  We'll definitely be visiting this place regularly. The park rangers were amazing and entirely kind....and all wading is 100% legal.

Absolutely nothing to do with hiking....but kinda cute. The makeshift seating arrangements when tables have been torn down for shampooing of carpets. 

Not entirely hiking related either....but, straight up....or straight down.....date night hair. Curls only disappear about twice a year so straight has to be thoroughly enjoyed while it last. I think a place truly starts to feel like home once one has found someone who can be trusted with insanely thick, loosely curly hair. She saw fit to thin it out, as her expert opinion was that it would lay much nicer and be more manageable....but somewhere in the thinning I think I lost half of my body weight. She pruned quite generously. On the hiking note...I did go hiking with straight hair so I guess it could kinda sorta be a little hiking related. And yes.....that is a dog's butt in the lower right hand corner.

The geriatric and the fence jumper. 

.....on to hiking.

....and the beginnings of the love of rock climbing are born. Let it be known that it can be done even while backpacking a massive toddler.

Davy Crockett wonderlands.

After the hike. The bed had been made up but then they all piled in for a Friday night movie.

These would be the rocks Evye saw fit to get stuck on barefoot and half way out to river while Ergoing Baby A. And so stuck was she that she had a few fellow passing hikers concerned and talking. Seeing as how the entire world was staring at her insane predicament I then was required to walk out to middle of river while wearing Baby C, remove A from her, and walk the 3 of us back to river shore as she squealed and laughed her own way back. I had absolutely no desire to remove shoes or socks to help her butt out so, in all of my ingenuity, I saw fit to wade out to her fully clothed....socks, shoes and all.....which then required of me to hike the rest of the day with no socks and a spare pair of shoes unearthed in the van. Probably won't ever be doing that again.
Just for the record.....this is NOT Evye in the pic. This would be Grayson backpacking Baby B and is just a good overall shot of where Evye saw fit to get herself river stranded.....way out in the middle.

The amazing "1930"s house" according to Garrison. Ummm...son? Try subtracting another 100 years or so from that and you might be nearing the right era.

It wiggles as much as it looks like it would....and moves side to side.....and bounces.

Inside the old historic "1930's" cabin.

In this case, fun is entirely dependant on your definition of it. We watched one dude take 5 entire minutes to cross this thing. Children thought it was amazing and would've permanently camped out on it if there hadn't been more to conquer before dusk set in.

Before she saw fit to get them both stuck half way out.

The stuff fairytales are made of......

Straight up. I'm pretty sure this was more ladder than it ever was stairs. Ivye kept up with the best of them.

Who sees the water moccasin?

Daybook Thoughts and More Pics

Outside my window.....

a surreal canopy of green and a beautiful 75 degree day.

I am thinking.....

It's time to run. I'm gonna go conquer some hills.

I am thankful.....

that God has given hair the ability to grow back due to mothers like me that continue to attempt to cut their daughters' hair in an attempt to save both time and money. What is supposed to be a small trim seems to turn into no less than 4-6 inches chopped off every time I get in the mood.

I am wearing.....

running shorts and a tank top

I am hearing....

sweet contented baby sighs as I nurse a baby and type one handed.

I am remembering.....

that the outer banks has a triathlon in Sept and I really, seriously, truly want to do it. It consists of a 750m/13.5mi/5k. I have found a triathlon training program for beginners. Now I just need to come up with a pool and a bike. Crossfitting husband will help me train and oldest son wants to train and conquer the event with me. I really want to do this. I may get brave and just do it.

I am going.....

to expand on what we already have and begin the Paleo eating habits today. I'm ready to kick some butt and feel like I can conquer the world again.

I am reading....

more like researching....all the cool places to go up the coast a little.

I am hoping.....

that the next time we go hiking we can avoid getting in trouble by the park ranger for wading on the lake shore. If one has to be embarrassingly reprimanded for an offense they did not know they were committing at least he was genuinely nice about it all while doing it....and then proceeded to be entirely enthused with our clan.

On my mind......

that I have to take trash today in the van....with the flies. As long as they're not ticks I think I'm good. And that there is a certain amount of comfort knowing that when you tell Grant or Garrett to kill something that they will not only kill it but they will also stomp out and shred any afterlife it ever thought about having.

I am noticing....

that this place is starting to finally feel like home.

I am pondering....

the fact that staying in a KOA cabin instead of a hotel has not occurred to us sooner. We have done it once before when we had only 5 children...and it was so much fun. There is no one sharing two walls with us as there is in a hotel. There is no one below us to be bothered by what can sometimes sound like a herd of angry elephants. There is room to spread out and for toddlers and lots of little boys with tons of energy to run. They are furnished with a full kitchen table...but also have outdoor picnic tables, which we tend to utilize quite a bit. They have great playgrounds just steps away from the cabin door and children can run it all out there after a day spent in a vehicle, rather than being cooped up in the tiny confines of a hotel with only a tv...and yet more sitting.....for entertainment and "activity". Most are located on lakes or rivers and allow fishing...and all have outdoor grills for cheap hot dog dinners. A cabin for 6 easily fits all of us. Cabins with a small kitchenette, and full bathroom are cheaper than hotels during weekdays and about the same as a hotel over a weekend. And we happen to get a 15% Fire/EMS discount on top of it. Pretty fun stuff. We're now researching all of the fun destinations on the east coast with KOA's.

Around the house.....

1500 sq ft that needs to be cleaned.....again.

Life in pics....

sweet chubby cheeks

For whatever reason blogger isn't allowing me to rearrange pics in order, so.....this is where Gatlin was while we took the group pics. Sleepy boy needing a nap.

You know you have attained hippie, tree hugging status when you find a good dirt mound and start nursing in the forest. This was actually taken as an inside joke for working husband and messaged to him..but, for the world at large, it proves that you can nurse just about anywhere.

Sweet sleeping bed buddies. Their new hobby is taking off the pillowcases. And yep...pillows without cases are just plain gross...but the boys are sweet!

Grayson's wearing Graham and Evye's wearing Gates. Gatlin's on my back so didn't make the pic. Aubrey....she was a little happy.

Illegally wading around.

Making more laundry soap.

It was suppose to be a trim.

Although fairly scalped it didn't turn out horrifically awful.

And Ivye's first major cut.

Waiting for babies to be strapped on and water gathered in backpacks.

Wild strawberries all over our yard.....a very FAR cry from cactus. They are everywhere. And throughout the woods at the end of our street are tons upon tons of wild blueberries. Yes, they are perfectly safe to eat.

The side view.

Disappearing deep into the hundreds of miles of trails.

My growing boy. He still seems so tiny even at 11 lbs.

Diaper changes before heading home.

Brotherly love.

Yep....wading.

Super smiley boy. He now coos and talks too.

Graham's mad and just wants out to go jump in. Gatlin's sizing up the water.

I think the two little eyes peering over Grayson's shoulder are the funniest part of this picture.

Figuring out her shorts were on inside out and backwards. Apparently sitting on dirt and rocks half naked while hiking is entirely fun.

So perfect in every way.

Watching the troop return from the annual camporee. The troop is so respected that they were chosen to host the event this year and Grayson was asked, despite his lower rank due to starting later than most boys, to serve as staff while there. Pretty honorable stuff.

Sleepy baby yawns.

Before playing fruit basket turnover with babies, this is where Gatlin rode, as he's heaviest and I wanted his weight. Makes a great strength and endurance builder...and he's a happy camper! Eventually.....after redefining unity with nature and several hippie chick nursing experiences....I ended up with tiny baby, Grayson got sumo toddler and Evye had the middle weight.

The scalping of her. Granted, her hair's damp and put into two little ponytails...but still. She doesn't seem too bothered by it.