The Accidental Boilermaker

For the next 7 weeks, Nate, Evelyn, and me along with our friends Ashley and Brandon are going to attempt to hike 7 of Roanoke's top mountain summits.  It's an event/challenge put on by Roanoke parks and rec . Peak #1 - Mill Mountain I was probably most excited about this one because we haven't climbed Mill Mountain yet to see the Roanoke Star.  Fun fact, Mill Mountain is the highest point in Roanoke and the Star, erected in 1949, is the world's largest man-made star. View from the top The Roanoke Star Another view of Roanoke This was Evelyn's first hike.  She did really well in the carrier and in fact slept the whole way to the top.   Family Picture Something else really cool was going on at Mill Mountain today.  Bikers were riding up and down the mountain 36 times in order to equal the elevation of Mt. Everest.  Every biker had a small flag and a stick that they used to keep track of their trips up and ...

Evelyn, we think, is slowly getting the hang of eating solid foods.  Yesterday she even got seconds because instead of hiding in her bib or the high chair, the sweet potato was gone!   She seems to have better luck feeding herself, but has started to eat some food off a spoon.  She likes to "help" though and grabs a hold of the spoon and puts it in her mouth. Sweet potato Green beans Apple slice (video is the not the greatest because it is from snapchat)

Evelyn was given this Fisher Price little person farm as a hand-me-down and it seems to have become her new favorite toy.

Yesterday Nate, Evelyn, and I met our friends Ashley and Brandon at Soaring Ridge brewery in Roanoke. We had never been to the brewery, but it had a nice atmosphere.  We even met a fellow Purdue grad thanks to Nate's Harry's Chocolate Shop shirt.   Evelyn enjoyed some blue grass music before we left to watch the Alabama game at Ashley's house. Evelyn also was very intrigued by Brandon's strawberry ale but he did a good job of keeping it away from her.

See, I told you - best friends.

Evelyn was not real keen on having her 7 month pictures taken.  Since she has started her version of crawling that's all she wants to do.  She isn't very happy to stay on her back or even sit upright if there is anything remotely close that she can play with.  A puzzle piece to chew on seemed to help.

Evelyn helped me make dinner tonight. In other news, I have to go back to work tomorrow.  It was nice being off for a week and a half.