take a hike

Today Dennis hiked his first trail on his own two feet. We took him to Wilderness Park in Prattville, where there are tremendous bamboo trees standing in a pine forest along a rough 0.33 mile trail. Dennis walked the entire trail, stumbling a few times, but generally doing a wonderful job staying on the trail and following it. He stopped to examine some trees and a few fallen logs, and he relocated a few pine cones and rocks and pieces of bamboo. He was so proud of himself, and we were so proud of him. He fussed a few times when he wanted to backtrack, and he didn't seem to understand that the trail was a loop and that eventually we would end up back at the places he wanted to see again, despite my efforts to explain it to him. We all enjoyed walking through the woods before the sun came out and it got extremely hot.

We escaped the heat in Bass Pro Shop, where I have never had the pleasure of seeing so many rednecks gathered in one spot. It was sort of like a zoo exhibit. We do live amongst the wild redneck here in our town, but the people at this store today represented a sample of the most extreme of the species. Mostly we encountered them in the fishing equipment section and speed boat and fishing boat section, where I actually heard the phrase, "Hey, Cletus, come here" (which sounded a bit more like 'kuhmeeer'). We found ourselves in a virtually redneck-free zone once we reached the hiking and canoeing/kayaking sections, as these border an electronic shooting range which serves as a redneck diversion (trap) that few escape. We added a wood duck to Dennis's collection of Audobon stuffed birds that make actual bird calls, as this was his favorite after comparing it to the loon, Canada goose, pheasant, and snowy owl. He knows to say "duck" when referring to this particular bird in his collection! Dennis enjoyed the large aquarium in the store, pointing and saying "fish" when appropriate. And he was ready to leave when we left, heartily enjoying a Bass Pro Shops bottle of water in the checkout line. Today we learned that those sport water bottles (with kind of a plastic nipple attachment) work along the same lines as a sippy cup, and he thought it was great fun to drink out of a grown-up bottle. The fun lasted until his Daddy showed him how to squeeze the bottle and make a fountain of water shoot out on Mommy in the parking lot.

We concluded our Prattville mini-vacation with a brief trip to Target, where we distracted a ready-for-nap Dennis by letting him ride in the main part of the shopping cart standing up instead of seated in the baby seat in front of the push handle. He giggled and said "wheeeee" and, when we got to the checkout line, began tossing our selected items over the side of the cart and onto the floor. He conked out in the car as soon as we hit the highway, and this was the start of a 2 and a half hour nap. We woke him in time for a spaghetti dinner and the resulting necessary bath, and then we played in his room with him until bedtime. Very fun day spent with our little family of 3!