Mountain Man

Last week we had a fiery tunnel, now we have a golden highway!

My pictures don't do justice

The trees up here are pretty spectacular... still! 

Brady P likes to kick the fallen leaves on the trails as he hikes along.

And he loooooooves to hike!

It started a couple years ago when he would start following a trail for curiosity's sake. The thought of what would be around the next corner intrigued him so much that he would not stop until he was bushed -- sitting in the middle of the trail until he finally threw his arms up and whined, "Carry me!"

If you've ever hiked in the Keweenaw, you know the trails are not flat -- terrain or elevation-wise. 

So during much of those couple years I tried to curb the places he could see because he would just take off. I would shout, "Nope!  Stop! Turn around! Remember, once you stop, you still have to walk all the way back. You are too big to carry that far!"

But he would go.

I had three choices: Carry him back from far away, chase after him and carry him home before he got too far or not take him by trails he liked to go on.

That is not the life we wanted.

But he got stronger, and so did his love for nature.

Now I just bring snacks and water, and we can hike off into the sunset!

Oh my heart!!!

I am now adventuring with my own flesh and blood! My little sidekick is really kicking it! Over the rivers and through the woods!

I think he could easily cover a handful of miles. I'm planning some new destination routes for us... hopefully we can get to a couple of them before it turns too wintery.

But, what a great hiking buddy!

When he looks up from the bottom of a tough climb, he'll make this grunting sound (like I do) and hold his hand back to me (cuz he likes to lead!) and say, "I'll do it by myself!"

You better believe he does! Sometimes he even takes the harder ways like over a tousle of roots or atop a rock spine.

When we get to the top of a gnarly descent, he'll take a deep breath and remind me that he can do it by himself. At the bottom he'll shout, "I did great!"

"Yes, you did, Dove!" I'll echo.

Getting down a steep bridge by himself!

He also likes to read the trail signs. Well, I often read them the first time past, but he sure remembers them. 

Yesterday we doubled back on the Red Trail. We passed a sign that said "Caution Brigde."

"That's right!" he said.

I laughed at his confirmation to the sign. Like, the sign just knew!

He loves watching the water as we cross bridges. He delights in bridge and rock features. He tells me all the animals he sees. He remembers the names of the trails, the lakes and the special places we name ourselves. Here he is having his snack on our newly dubbed P. Pie Peak.

P. Pie Peak!

I am so pleased that this little man's strength and stamina has finally matched his passion and curiosity for roaming in nature. I see a fun, adventurous future in store for us!

Morning Run

Hi!

I have already exhausted myself today.

Pretty much all with good things, so no complaints, I suppose. But tired nonetheless.

Here are some (completely unedited) pictures from my run this morning, as it was beautiful, refreshing and much needed!

Her Majesty, Lake Superior

White Worm Coral Mushrooms -- I think!

Post Sunrise on Lake Fanny Home

Trail Love

And if you haven't already heard, the leaves are pretty peak up here. I don't have any good pictures, but here is a not-so-good one from my drive on Monday.

Covered Stretch Colors in the Rain

Okay, see you next week!

Be kind.

Dig deeper.

Prevail!

Conquering Hills

Hey!

Here's a little video from one of our sick walks. So pardon our voices!

On a note of translation, he says, "We did it." 

Then, "Oh no! It's a big hill again!" 

Then, at the top of the next hill, "Ooh. We did it, Mummy."

I am always so proud of how he can recognize an obstacle and muster up the strength to conquer it.

What a little man.

Take care of yourself!

Mushrooms, Cars and Hot Sauce

Hi!

This is Braeden.

Me and Mummy went on a hike tonight.

It was super fun.

I wanted to play hide-and-seek on the trail, but Mummy said we should find mushrooms.  She called, "Ready or not, Mushrooms.  Here we come!"

And then we looked along the path for mushrooms while we walked.  We found yellow ones, orange ones, brown ones that looked like poop, purple ones with water on top, white ones, tiny red ones that were hiding and some with spots.

I even found one all by myself way down on the side.  It was a reddish-pinkish one.  Mummy was proud.

Sometimes we found one cuz Mummy hid behind a tree.  I was being a zombie, so she ran away and then she would hide cuz she was scared.  When I find her I have to say, "Mummy, it's just me!" and I give her a hug so she's not scared.

I like to be a zombie and chase her through the woods. She really gets scared and hides.  I like it cuz I get her every time.

Sometimes I get to sit outside in the front yard and watch the cars go by.  I see motorcycles and trucks and jeeps and vans and campers and four-wheelers and bicycles and puppies and lots of people.  

I like to say hi and wave to the people.  Sometimes I go pet the puppy if Mummy says it's okay.

There are a super lot of cars that go by.  Sometimes a horn beeps and I wave hi.  They must really like to beep at me.

Also tonight we had green beans from the garden and chicken nuggets for dinner.  I dipped mine in ketchup and Mummy had a sauce, too.  I swirled one of my nuggets in her sauce and my mouth started on fire!

It was so hot!  I tried to wipe it out with my hand, but Mummy shouted, "NO!" and she wiped the rest of the sauce off my hands, so I didn't put more in my mouth.  

I drank some juice cuz Mummy said.  It felt a little better, but not really.  Then I took a bite of green bean and it felt a little better, but not really.

She told me to each a couple more bites of chicken with ketchup, and I would be okay.

I pointed to the red stuff on her plate, and she said, "That's hot sauce."

"That's hot sauce," I said, once I could talk again.

"That's hot sauce." I said again.

Cuz I don't want to dip my chicken in that ever again.

The Natural Life

Last week we traveled every day from Wednesday to Sunday.

To and around cities.

Cities.

I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about them.

But all of Braeden's urology appointments were set up at the children's hospital in Ann Arbor (the best hospital we've ever been to), so we prepared.

I even convinced my mom who, surprisingly didn't need convincing, to take the ferry boat from Milwaukee, Wisconsin across Lake Michigan to Muskegon, Michigan.

While this option didn't necessarily save us time vs. driving around Chicago, it saved me the desire to jump out of the window of the car as it navigated 80 mph around a city full of hundreds of thousands of aggressive drivers.

I hate it.  It does not seem normal to me.  Yet, to some people, it's daily life.

To each their own.

Luckily, we signed up for the ferry.  

While waiting for the freshly arrived boat to unload, Braeden and I played out in the lush Milwaukee grass.  The sun was shining, and we donned only one jacket -- no hats and mittens -- as we had to do in the cold, rainy/snowy mix, gray Keweenaw.

Sometimes it's good to get away.

So we played in the grass.  And when I say played, I mean, Brady P. practiced his dives and rolls.  Laughing and smiling while the drying grass clippings stuck to his Copper Harbor sweatshirt.

It felt very liberating to us both.

I felt proud.

Little Brady P., who had already hugged all the kids his size inside the building, was now enjoying his time in the sunshine to the max.  Running in circles around the lone tree in the yard.  Diving and rolling and laughing.

I'm glad he gets a thrill out of nature.

Cuz I knew we'd be on that boat for almost three hours... and the car for three hours on each side of that.

He loved being on the boat.  So much that he stayed curious the whole time, even though it was his nap time.  He perched in the window to watch the sparkling waves.  I'm sure it reminded him of Lake Superior.

Perched

I'm really glad we spent that time outside because that was pretty much the only outdoor time we got.  The weather was up and down, but were often in the car... or the hospital... or in the concrete jungle... not rolling in the grass... or throwing rocks.

At the hospital, however Brady P. checked out with a positive outcome.  And we were told to come back in a year.  "Unless," his doctor said, "you want to skip this extremely long trip and get his next ultrasound done in Marquette.  Then we could just have a phone appointment."

Yes, doctor.  Yes.  We would prefer to skip that trip.

Picture # 4 by Super Man

As luck (and my mood) would have it, the ferry was cancelled on our way home, and we had to drive around Lake Michigan anyway.  But for that, my mom and I compromised, and we took the long way home in order to keep stress levels low, so this Yooper wouldn't jump out of the car.