Backpack Backpack!

If you’ve been fortunate enough to miss the Dora the Explorer phenomenon, allow me to fill you in on what you’ve been missing. Each episode follows Dora and her little monkey friend as they have an adventure that requires them to go somewhere to do something. Inevitably they will have to use a Map to find their way, they say a few words in Spanish here and there, and at some point they have to dig some useful object out of Dora’s backpack. Opening said backpack requires Dora and you, the viewer, to sing a catchy tune that goes “backpack, baaackpack.” SB doesn’t care too much for Dora, but when Mommy has to vacuum and that’s the only thing on, she’ll tolerate it. Anyway, this dumb little song gets into your head and next thing you know, every time you hear the word “backpack” in any context, you are singing “backpack baaackpack” and annoying everyone around you. We don’t care too much for sitcoms, but we caught “Modern Family” last week and the parent of a toddler confessed that he wanted to fill Dora’s backpack with bricks and drop her in the river and we thought it was hilarious.


Anyway, I tell you that information so you can appreciate that when we went on our first adventure with baby’s new hiking backpack, we sang it  every 2 minutes. Damn you, Dora the Explora! Other than annoying children’s ditties, SB’s maiden voyage in the backpack (backpack baaaackpack!) was a rousing success. Technically it’s not her first experience in the backpack, but the first few runs didn’t count because she wasn’t on a real hiking trail. The real first time, she cruised around our driveway. Second time was such a comedy of errors we don’t count that at all. It was Easter weekend up in Hendersonville so we cruised up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to do a little hiking. Unfortunately the parkway was closed to do wind damage, resulting in only one nearby trail we could access.  It was unseasonably hot, and we soon discovered after getting out of the car, that it was biting fly season. They swarmed us like a bad “B” movie and baby was in the backpack a total of 5 minutes.  So on Monday after a brief trial run on my parents’ street, we loaded her up and were off to DuPont Forest for a quick hike to Hooker Falls. It’s beautiful up there and the lower falls are an easy walk so it was perfect for her first expedition. Doesn’t she look happy?

Checkin' out the sunshade

Wow those are some tall trees

The dusty trail

Almost There!

Pretty!

Kurt did a little shooting of his own.  Can't wait to see this footage!

More filming for his "Baby vs. Wild" series

No more pictures please.

Ok baby, I'll just shoot the scenery instead.