October 14, 2002 - Monday
On the one hand, it is truly amazing to me that in the nearly three years we have had Harry, this is the first picture of his mother and me with either him or Jeremy. Obviously, taking pictures of an entire group requires either someone else to take the picture (in this case Uncle Ben) or the use of the self-timer feature, but the self-timer is something that mommy and I had used extensively for photos of the two of us on vacations for years before the boys were born. On the other hand, however disappointing the omission is in hindsight, it's easy enough to see how it happened. These kids are a distraction, no doubt about that, especially now that they're both moving around, and it's hard to plan ahead, set everything up, and keep everyone still long enough to get a shot. Their mother and I will stay still and wait for the flash, babies and boys don't. But, we'll have to work on that.

The big weekend at the cabin ended with a hike to the mountain and it was a lovely day, with one exception. We had to carry Harry the whole way (about two miles each way). That was tiring, thankfully Uncle Ben (pictured in the back behind Aunt Lisa and cousin Chloe) gave me a little break, and it did not keep Harry at all warm, especially as we got to the opening right near the top where a cold wind gave him a real chill. Jeremy seemed fine, although he was tucked in a backpack with his mother. There was a brief time when we first got to the top that Harry seemed very excited about the view, reminiscing about his ride in the airplane. But, that excitement soon gave way to being cold and wanting to leave. I sat with him for a few minutes with him inside my coat and that relaxed him, but the visit to the mountain was ultimately abbreviated. For the walk back, I wrapped my parka vest around Harry. Heck, I'd be plenty warm carrying him the whole way back.

On the way home and just like last year, Harry after more than two and a half hours in the car, noticed right away when we re-entered our hometown. He is my hero.


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