White Water State Park

Doug and I did a lot of hiking before we had Harrison, in fact just couple weeks before Harrison was born we hiked one of our favorite trails... So there is no doubt that he is going to do a lot of hiking.

Harrison loves to be outside. A majority of the time he throws a temper tantrum when he has to come in the house or I won't let him go out at the exact moment he wants to outside. I would much rather have a child who throws a tantrum when can't go outside as opposed to a child who content watching TV. There is so much more to explore in life and everything doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.

On our hiking expedition today we purchased a $25 pass to White Water State Park in St.Charles/Altura. This pass is not only just good for White Water State Park, but every state park in the state of Minnesota for an entire year.

There was so much to explore. Harrison loved to stand on the bridge and watch the water cascade over the rocks.

We loaded Harrison up and headed to the trails.

Look closely...

Here is a close-up...can't resist the cuteness of Harrison pointing with Daddy.

The view from the cliff was beautiful, I can only imagine how beautiful must be in autumn.

Take a look at this rock we stumbled upon on one of the trails today...

Stopping to pick some "flowers"

 Dandelions...you don't stand a chance!

It was a perfect day to play at the beach.

Watching Whitney on her first swim of the year. So much for the bath I gave her this morning!

I am in love with these next photos...especially his hair blowing in the wind.

 And...I saved the best for last!

It was fun and exhausting day. Doug and I found out just how much we are out of shape. I think I told Doug a half a dozen times that "I wish I was in better shape." Harrison did well riding in the harness for the most part, but was reluctant to walk when we took him out. He warmed up a bit when he started to picking flowers and playing in the sand. Probably a large part of his irritability today is caused from being sick. I questioned Doug in saying, "You know what? Shouldn't he just be used to being sick? On top of probably the runniest nose ever (and croupy cough), we started ear drops last night. We haven't seen any drainage yet, form his ears, but he woke up both last night and the night before---which is usually the warning of a looming infection.

On the bright side, hopefully he will avoid another nearly 105 temp. and the 12th ear infection.

On another happier note Harrison is picking up on some new signs and is using them regularly which is positive step forward for communication. His favorite sign is "more." It's irresistibly cute when he brings you and empty container or wrapper and signs "more." I better brush up on a few new signs we can introduce.

Something else I forgot to share in the last post is that our family was asked to be the ambassador family for the March of Dimes Jail and Bails event in Winona early this fall. We will share our story and be the face behind the event as it premieres in Winona for the first time. We are excited!

Hope you had a great weekend, we certainly did.