Let me start this out by saying that we are not avid hikers.
We are, however, very active people who love to be outside. We love to explore our beautiful (and when I say beautiful, I mean BEA-UUUUUTIFUL) surroundings. We love to spend time with our friends. And we love to challenge ourselves.
So on this very fabulous and long weekend, we did just that by embarking on an awesome adventure with our lovely friends, DShan and Melissa (aka :: “DShon” and “Yeesa”).
We planned the timing of our trip around the girl’s naps (after Mac’s morning nap and before their combo afternoon nap) and it all worked out really well. Abby was definitely tired by the time we got home (she even snoozed in the car on the way home) and Mac slept for a bit on the hike, but both girls were troopers.
Our route of choice was part of the Dispea Trail in Marin where we climbed 688 stairs and walked just over four miles. With two kiddos, it was quite the workout! Travis was in charge of Abigail (33+ lbs) and I was in charge of Mackenzie (20+ lbs). Luckily enough for us, our amazing hiking buddies helped us carry water, diapers, wipes, and my nursing cape (and it was pretty hilarious when we pulled off the side of the trail to sit down on some sticks and nurse Baby Mac – it all worked out perfectly but we definitely got a few puzzled looks from our fellow hikers on the trail).
For Abby, Travis wore a hiking backpack (variety of options here) that his Mom gave us a LONG time ago (I think it was the Thanksgiving before we even had Abby). This was the first time we used it (embarrassing, but true) and now that we know how great it works, we’ll be planning many more trips like this in the future!
For Baby Mac, I wore my trusty Baby Bjorn (Synergy - you HAVE to have back support if you’re planning a hike like this with a super heavy 8 month old). While my shoulders were definitely sore at the end of the hike, it worked out great!
Our initial plan was to hike to the Marin Tourist Club (an amazing beer garden in the middle of the hike – what makes it even cooler is that you can only get there by hiking to it) but we sadly messed up on timing and saw this when we arrived ::
Had we left Abby and Mac at home, we would have stuck around the extra two hours to wait for it to open, but we were on a nap schedule. So instead of wasting time, we turned around, stuck our tails between our legs, and headed back into town (while doing so, we passed at least 30 people who were eagerly making their way to the Tourist Club and we pretended as if we were only there for a great workout…ugh!).
Luckily for us, our friends are amazing and didn’t skip a beat when we had to turn around. Instead of hanging out at the Tourist Club, we found an awesome restaurant in Mill Valley (Sweetwater Music Hall - great find, Melissa!) with outdoor seating, great beers, and delicious food and proceeded to have a wonderfully relaxed time.
And on the bright side, when we were done with lunch, we didn’t have to walk 2+ miles out of the woods!!
Anyway, I wanted to share our adventure with everyone because while it took some extra planning, our hiking adventure with the girls was AWESOME. Such a great workout for everyone and such a fantastic experience for the girls (especially Abby who loved riding in the backpack and became and expert ducker).
If you’re nervous about planning an adventure like this, don’t be – you can do it! And if you have any questions about gear or logistics, ask away!
Now we just need to plan another hike for when the Tourist Club is actually open!!! 
Until next time,
***big thanks to DShan for some of these awesome pictures that I stole off of Facebook!!!***
