Rustic Cabin and positive interactions

A couple of weekends ago we went on an adventure with some friends. A guy I work with recently became a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club that allows you to rent many different cabins for a very modest fee (~$30/night). These cabins are rustic - no running water or plumbing, but there was a wood stove, outhouse, and stream nearby. Ahh, brings back my days in the yurt.

The 1.8 mile hike in was a bit ambitious for us, particularly our toddler. He is not the most coordinated fellow (bless his heart) and the recently fallen leaves and rocky terrain made for a long haul. He was exhausted and needing to be carried more than we expected, which was tough considering we were carrying an infant and all our food, clothes and blankets for the night.

Regardless, We had a great time, and look forward to getting the family in the woods again next year. Now we know that Alder just needs a bit more training beforehand.

Here is the beautiful cabin:

and all the kids...
Another fun thing of late is that Alder and Heath are beginning to interact more, and it is really cute. I looked back at Alder in the car yesterday and asked a common question - "Is Heath awake or asleep?" Alder looked over and a huge smile emerged on his face and he said - "Awake! and he is happy!" I proceeded to laugh and tell Alder how much Heath loves him. Heath smiles hugely when Alder enters the scene or merely looks at him and proceeds to kick his legs and reach for him. Alder is finally coming around and recognizing that this can be fun. He regularly sits with a book near him and talks about what he sees on the pages. So sweet, when he says: "Heath, you like this book? Okay." Yesterday morning as Heath was waking up in our bed (as he often comes in our bed ~5am or earlier), Alder brought his guitar (yuke) in and set up next to him and sang his ABCs to him.

Here they are in the bathtub together for the first time:

...and Heath's first experience in the exersaucer - Alder was directing Heath to play with/chew on this or that.Oh yes, and here are a few nice pics of Heath: