Budding Hikers

Ed and I have been hiking and backpacking since we started dating almost 25 years ago...and we're just crazy about it so we're really motivated to get Sammi and Nicki into trail hiking at the earliest age we can. Yep, we wanna be a motley crew of backpackers! If you ever peeked at our attic..and garage...and closets...and under our beds....you'd see our hiking and packing gear bursting out of the seams just everywhere. Call us "REI-is-Us"
So we hit the trails with the girls each Sunday. There's a plethora of really nice hiking trails in our area. Each time we go out, the girls' navigational skills on the uneven trail terrain gets better and better. Last Sunday, they managed to walk almost a mile on their own. (Hey, they're just 21 pounds and way less than 3 ft tall...that's pretty darn good.) They both know how much Ed and I love being out on the trails and they seemed very proud to show off for us .


"Okay, okay, REI....you're right. We'll be stopping by very soon as the girls do need some real hiking boots! Please don't look at their sandals (omg!)"

Last parting shot of Ed and Sammi....now isn't that a proud Papa....!

Sidewalk Art......Priceless

Walked outside to check on Ed and the girls....It's funny how the tiny simple things are so precious.....

"Thanks, Sweetheart....(you earned points on this one....)"

Look....Look....Loooook!

The vision that kept me going during all those long years up to Referral Day (Aug 24, 2006) were the pictures that danced around in my head of two little girls -- my two little daughters -- somewhere someplace somehow in China. I always knew we would be referred twin girls. I always knew (and I'm talking knowing this since I was a child myself) that it'd be China....and that I'd be blessed with twins...Just knew it and I never let that thought go. My friends, family, Ed...everyone pretty much tried to gently "talk me out of" knowing in my heart-of-hearts that we'd be referred twins as they did not want to see me disappointed. But I, in turn, would gently correct them when they said "your daughter"...and I'd say "you mean 'daughters'." So, no one could "talk me out of hoping...or rather knowing...." that two little girls were heading our way. One of the pictures that danced in my head quite persistently was the scene of two bubbly sisters with pom-poms in their hair.

As Rony and Colleen and Ed and others know, I've been eagerly awaiting the whole "ok, are they ready for pigtails/ponytails/pom-poms?" Don't know why I've been so stuck on this for all these years but who cares because here it is right now just so smack-dab in our life . Jeez-a-ree, I'm going to make myself tear up right here and now and bawl like a baby....

Dreams do sometimes come true.....

First Camping Trip

Isn't it nice when a trip or a break exceeds expectations instead of the other way around? This is definitely a "do-it-again-er" and hopefully sooner than later. We spent the weekend in the NC mountains...ahh, so cool up there....with the Col, John, Jessie and Kelsey. We rented the cutest side-by-side cabins in a KOA campground. In the BCP (Before Cutie-Patooties) days, Ed and I had been unrelenting die-hards when it comes to the virtues of backpacking versus camping (you know...ya gotta hike at least 10 miles from the trailhead in a wilderness preserve and suffer from mild exhaustion before you can say you really went "backpacking")....but..oh ho ho...I have to say this KOA campground was pretty much a winner now that we're packin' two twenty-two month olds!

We took side trips on Saturday. Col, John and their girls went to Grandfather Mountain for some real hiking while Ed and I and our girls went to...Tweetsie Railroad, an amusement park for the 5-and-under crowd:

But our fav thing to do was to just hang out by our cabins and drink wine and watch Kelesy and Jessie play and chase after Sammi and Nicki and have huge marshmellow fights by the fireside...oh, yes, and watch Jessie-the-pyro play with fire!!

Here's Kelsey....isn't she lovely? (Kelsey, I remember when you were under two and we went on a camping trip with you....!! )

Great time, guys!!! Let's go again really soon....like next month?? :)