A few weeks ago, we went on our first mini family vacation. We drove up to the mountains. The drive was fine until the windy ascent into the mountains, but baby A. was a trooper who only got carsick once. Still, as a first-time mother, I was nervous and kept the throw-up baggie in hand. The entire trip!
We took baby on a leisurely paved walk to a waterfall in the area. She slept in her carrier for most of the hike, but awoke toward the end of it to vibrant green trees and cloudless blue skies. (One of her favorite pastimes is to watch leaves on trees blow in the wind.) She loved it. Above is a photo of the creek that leads to the waterfall, which was abundantly filled with snowmelt. I'm glad that the years-long drought we've been experiencing was broken this year. It made for beautiful hiking scenery and a healthy forest.
Overnight trips with a baby, even a short one like ours, are stressful. Is she cold? Hot? Hungry? Going to sleep through the night, or wake the neighbors? And in my case: Is she going to throw up, and when? But new situations force you to reexamine what you can handle and more importantly, what your baby can. (And yes, she handled things much better than I thought she would.) We slept little, ate when we could, stressed continuously, and got out into nature for a bit. Our reward was baby A.'s awe-filled laughter and smiles. It's the little joys that matter, always the little joys. Parenthood is quite a trip.
