butte.

oh, it was hot.  we should not have hiked on this day, but when jackie woke me up that morning, that was the first thing he requested (usually, it's for his vitamins).

mama, yet's hike da butte today!

so we packed snacks, water bottles with half-ice, half-water and made the trek to palmer.  when we exited the truck, the thermometer read 68 degrees.  oooh, i knew it was gonna be brutal.  sure enough, we weren't five minutes up and both kids were red-faced.  jack shed his t-shirt, and they each requested their nalgenes.


this was also the first hike where i didn't have dylan in the ERGObaby carrier.  the past few hikes, she's wanted in, out, in, out so i thought today would be the start of dylan's hiking career.  sure enough, she did great.  but.  she fell.  a lot.  A LOT a lot.  hence, the dirty face.  arms.  and legs.  ok, so she was a total dirtball, but she had a super time.
      

within minutes of starting.  

they're totally siblings.

knik glacier waaay back there...

love cotton candy clouds

(look past the creepiness on my part - i just wanted to capture the moment.)  

can't even express my jealousy of those girls, taking a snooze and sunning themselves.  

my future mount marathon-er

no fear - running down the butte!