Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

We spent the day at Hickory Nut Gap Farm here in Asheville. It was great. They have a huge pick-it-yourself pumpkin patch and a great corn maze. They also had lots of baby farm animals.













Ruby really enjoyed feeding the sheep. She spent about 30 minutes scooping feed and holding her hand out to the sheep.

Hunting Island

Scott, Ruby, and I took off to Hunting Island, SC for a beach camping trip. This place is great! We camped in a jungle-like forest with huge spiders and strangely intelligent raccoons (they knew how to unzip things). We had a "primitive" camping site which was a "hike" of 125 feet from where we parked the car.


There were three spiders like this around our campsite. Ruby insisted on watching them "sleep" several times throughout the trip.

We spent all day playing on the beach, which was practically empty despite the campground being full. The island itself is a state park, so no hotels, restaurants, or beach shops.



Ruby loved the beach but was convinced the ocean itself was "slippery." She wouldn't go near the waves. At low tide, however, we spent hours in deep tide pools swimming. The rest of the time we ran up and down the beach filling buckets with broken seashell bits.

Baxter got to come with us, too, which was fun. He tried to launch himself through the tent at one point in the middle of the night when the raccoons started eating his food. All of us in the tent though we were being attacked. The next nights, all food went in the car.

College mom, Nature Baby, and more

We've been a long time without a post. Life has gotten crazy busy. Good, but busy. I have started school again and with my 15 hours of classes, I don't have much time to write blogs. Ruby has started going to a small in-home preschool down the road from where we live. She is there while I'm in class. She loves it. She cries when she has to leave. I take this as a good sign (and try not to be offended that she hasn't been constantly missing me while I'm gone).

Our website has finally launched and, with it, the challenge of trying to run a business out of our home. Boxes of toys, clothing, and natural laundry detergent surround us as we go about our normal lives. Check out what's going on with that part of our life at: www.naturebabyonline.com and our Nature Baby blog. (Shameless plug, I know.)

Ruby is growing up as fast as kids are said to. Enjoy the random assortment of pictures from the past few months of our life.



Swim lessons proved very exciting. Ruby surprised me and loved being under water and getting her face wet. She "graduated" from Preschool I and gets to move on to Preschool II. OH yeah! (She's still afraid of the shower though...)

Ruby, Baxter, and I spend lots of time hiking around the area. This is one of our favorite spots along the Swannanoa River. It was a chilly day (50ish degrees) and Ruby still took off all our clothes and got in the water. Not me!

Our friend Nora sewed Ruby her very own sling to put Baby in. Ruby loves carrying Baby around like I carry her around.
Ruby still loves her clothes and enjoys going through her wardrobe almost daily. This is a dress some friends just gave us. It is sized for a 6 year old, but this didn't stop her from wearing it and dancing around.

Blueberry Pickin'

8:00 AM. We are making breakfast and packing lunches to take with us on our grand blueberry adventure. Ruby is so excited she keeps making this face.


Before we had gotten many blueberries, Ruby discovered the river. Oh yes, time for a swim before we get more berries.
Ruby sat and picked lots of berries. None of them made it into her bucket though; they all went straight to her belly.
After eating lots of berries, Ruby was on my back and ready to nap. She borrowed Scott's hat, which she thought was hilarious.

Hiking on the AT

Ruby and I have gotten camping many times since she was born. Now she is old enough that she wanted to start carrying her own pack. This is Ruby in the parking lot of Max Patch, on the AT in North Carolina. We are about to take off to camp on top of the bald and watch a meteor shower.


It was a little over one mile to the where we were camping. After about 100 yards Ruby took off her pack (and the rest of her clothing) and kept hiking. I actually got a diaper on her before this picture was taken.

She hiked around and around the bald. Future thru-hiker here, folks!