Best Day of My Life

We're 3 days into summer vacation and it has been amazing!  Last summer I remember having a blast, but August was always looming in the back of my mind.  Knowing the summer would come to an end took a teeny tiny bit of fun out of the day, but let's be honest, I still had a blast!  This summer knowing August will just be another month of togetherness with Carter has been so freeing.  Carter has been wild and I have been free and it's been a wonderful combination.  Every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed I want to sing and dance to this song:

Because I seriously feel like it's been the best day of my life.  Today didn't go as planned.  We'd hoped to go to the zoo in the morning, but it rained all morning so that didn't happen.  Instead we followed Jack Johnson's advice, stayed inside, and made banana pancakes.  Carter's molars are coming in and have been causing him a bit of trouble in the sleep department, but he's content other than that.  Today he woke up from his nap screaming and as I walked through the house carrying him while talking softly and swaying to calm him, I thought, there is nowhere I'd rather be than right here.  I was so glad I was there in that moment to soothe my sweet boy and his sore gums.

Chewing on a hair tie while I got the Tylenol ready because for some reason teething rings just don't cut it!

In the afternoon I decided to take Carter and Harper for a walk.  I wanted somewhere safe for Carter to walk, that eliminated the sidewalks near our house because they are both on busy roads, but I also wanted somewhere without too many dogs.  I didn't want the hassle of Harper getting all jacked up over other dogs while trying to steer Carter in the direction I needed him to go.  I decided on Turkey Mountain, a trail going up the side of a huge hill which in Oklahoma apparently qualifies as a mountain.  I slipped on my flip flops figuring if I didn't wear appropriate walking shoes I would be less likely to take Carter farther out than he could handle.  As I loaded everyone in the car I wondered if I'd made a mistake and would regret my decision to bring Harper along.  I debated inviting Jeremy to go with us, but knew it was a good possibility that we would get out there, I would realize I'd made a rookie mistake, load back up and head home.

We arrived and I was determined to prove I hadn't made a mistake.  Walking across the parking lot in flip flops, holding Harper's leash, and balancing Carter on my hip a man stopped me and said, "Have you ever walked here before?"  Immediately I imagined he was going to tell me that the trail would be too much for a woman in flip flops carrying a baby and walking a dog so I defensively responded with, "Yes, I have" daring him to tell me I'd made a mistake.  He excitedly said, "Which trails are best for walking?  This is my first time!"  Ah, battle averted.  After discussing the trails with him we took off on our adventure.  I was impressed with Carter.  I had imagined him walking for a while and then wanting to be picked up, especially with how he woke up from his nap, but he was having a blast.  He took off and I let him lead while I nervously tried to remember every turn we had made so we could find our way back to the parking lot.  Normally I rely on Ty to make it home.  I was pleasantly surprised that Carter had no interest in going off the trail into the wooded area to the side.  That was until Harper wandered off the path.  Then it was all I could do to keep Carter from wandering through the tall plants and forest area.  When we headed back to the parking lot Carter found a little hill and happily traversed up and down it so many times I lost track.

Then I took him over to a central area where all the trail heads come together.  There are some cool rocks we took family pictures at years ago before Carter was born and I wanted him to see them.  He thought they were really cool and then sat down in the shade and found some roly polys in the dirt.  Thanks to his grandpa, he has become obsessed with these creatures.  He loves to pick them up and let them crawl on his arm which is fine with me.  Today when he picked the up and they rolled into a ball he would get them between his thumb and index finger and squeeze, inadvertently killing them.  I knew it wasn't intentional, but it made me sad, so I told him no more pill bugs.  He then picked up dirt and let it rain down on his legs.  He also very casually leaned over and rubbed it on me.  Finally when Carter's hair was matted to his head with sweat and he threw himself down crying because I pulled him out of the way of an oncoming biker, I decided we were too hot and needed to head for home.  When we got in the car Carter exclaimed "wa wa" when he saw me getting my water bottle for him and chugged water until he started to cough.  Hiking Mission: completed.  Status: Success!

Checking out the rocks.

Here mommy, check out this mud!

Checking the mud for roly polys.

Here momma, have some dirt!

Dirt, better than sunscreen!