Thursday, August 3, 2006

Training her up for the good life

This last week or so has been a great chance for Melissa, Katelyn, and I to spend some time laying down the intense work of church planting for some much needed rest and family time. We spent two nights at Nehalem Bay near Tillamook on the Oregon Coast doing our best to train our daughter in the ways of outdoor living.



She took right to it. At the time she was not walking (much changes from week to week in the life of a 1-yr-old), so Melissa cut up a pair of my socks and put them over her knees so she could crawl around in the thistles and gravel. I suppose one might call these contraptions the baby hiking boot. (Come to think of it, I ought to start selling Gore-Tex versions at REI for $189 a pop...)One afternoon, we took Katelyn out to the bay and played on the sandy shoreline there, sheltered from the Nehalem wind by the graying driftwood trees. For the first time, she enjoyed the sand--didn't try eating any of it either--and generally had the gleam of wonder and discovery that so often graces the eye of the very young. She was particularly fascinated by the "where's your toes game." A real puzzler...



But mostly we stayed near the tent reading, snacking, and napping. We had nothing to worry about, since Katelyn viciously guarded our tent. Here's to training her up for living the good life of the Oregon outdoors!

6 comments:

Tim Lewis said...

You could patent the baby crawling hikers and become millionaires.

James Wood said...

Can you imagine all the hiking trails overrun by crawling babies?! But they will need matching gloves and protective headgear to go with the knee patches. I envision a helmet with a protruding screen that will prevent them from placing any foreign objects in their mouth.

Also, they should have jet packs.

Dwayne Hilty said...

And then you could call this new contraption "postmodern"

Glad to hear that vacation time went well. Abilene has been...well...Abilene. A nice place to visit, but...

Tim Lewis said...

Watch out for cults while you're there, Dwayne.

Gunslinger said...

I happen to know of a clothing company that specializes in 100% american made gear. i also now have a vendor for 100% American made cotton knit socks..... Think about it... Glad to hear all is well in your world man.

Alien Shaman said...

I look forward to fun get-aways with the family like you described. Hope you read something good, I just started Jack Vance's Dying Earth per your recommendation.