Over the hills and through the woods

We weren't going to grandma's house but decided to take a little day hike over the hills and through the woods to Lake Sylvia and enjoy this nice fallish weather. I had never heard of Lake Sylvia but it was in our Tim Ernst trail book. It was only a 4 mile loop and was close in the Ouachita National Forest so we thought it sounded like a good Sunday afternoon stroll.
Yes, we brought Miles with us. (We can no longer leave him at home with Smokey the Great Dane babysitter - just kidding.) He rode in the Baby Bjorn and loved every minute of it - or more like 2 hours of it!
Miles jabbered gleefully (seriously, he did) for the first 15 minutes or so and then became accustomed to the ride. It was not a difficult trail and gradually went up and down and around the terrain. There would have been a few streams but they were all dry. We finally reached the lookout over the lake as well as a good vista of the Ouachita Mountains.


The hike did take us longer than we expected - as does everything since we have a baby. I was carrying around 17 extra pounds and could not see my feet so i had to be very sure of my step. Plus, I have short little legs compared to Mason's long "Johnny Hopper" legs. I was trailing behind by a dozen steps the whole time. It has inspired me to loose 17 lbs though. I was quite relieved when I was able to take Miles "off". It got me thinking how much better I would feel if I could take 17 lbs off of myself so the push is on! A 17 lbs lighter me is my goal by the end of this year.
The highlight of our hike was seeing one (or two) whitetail deer does pranced across the trail. We could not tell if we saw the same deer twice or if it was a different one. The way they bounce around is quite amazing. Miles and I also admired a blue butterfly for a moment and I also saw a squirrel (and lots of mosquitoes). That is my wildlife report.
Miles was so good the entire time. He only got a little fussy towards the end - since he really did want to go to sleep but being jostled while I walked made the conditions for sleep unfavorable (though he has fallen asleep in the Bjorn before.) He thoroughly enjoys being outdoors and we hope that there are many more family hikes in store for us! We are just going to wait until the temperature drops another 20 degrees before attempting it again.