School, Beach, Hurricanes and Hiking

New and exciting times for the Moster Clan. School started for us 3 weeks ago. Kai is doing really well and I am soooo thankful for that. I was a bit apprehensive about that but it seems to be working so far. Kirstin and Emil M. are at the same schools and nothing much new for them by way of schedule just different classes and teachers. Noah is doing fine and so we're all good. I thought I'd have all this free time but have quickly filled it with all good things. It's amazing how quickly the day passes. I'm hoping to settle down into a routine soon and develop some type of schedule since I really like being organized in that way. 

Last weekend we got the chance to go to the beach for the day and it was great. The waves were small but fun for Kirstin to work her moves on. Kirstin, Noah and Kai discovered sand fleas and had a good two hours worth of fun catching them and observing them. Emil M. decided that he had had enough beach for the summer and opted to hang out in the truck the whole trip. Lest you feel sorry for him. He was perfectly content to write and sleep. The kids also tried their hand at fishing but they couldn't get anything to bite. It was the perfect end to the summer.

Tropical storm Hannah blew through NC without much of a fuss. It was a really mild storm with relatively little rain in our area. Lots of wind but not too strong. I think 60 mph was what the expected high gust were. We just had lots of leaves and little branches all over the yard with the power flickering off only twice.

This past weekend we went hiking on the Appalachian Trail. (spelling that was almost as hard as the hike was!) It was a 

grueling hike. Emil has really gotten into hiking as of late and wanted to wet our taste buds on his newfound passion. We left

home around 4pm on Thursday and camped at Sherando Lake.

Friday morning we got up and found this awesome little red spotted gecko. He was so cool. Then we went for the hike. I just got pictures with my camera of the before shots. 

Kirstin's camera was the one we took on the hike and I couldn't find it to download those pictures. It was so beautiful on Friday. The entire day we were hiking in the clouds. It was misty all around and the temp was a perfect 65 degrees. So even though we were working like dogs getting up and down the mountain we were cool doing it. We covered 7.6 miles that day I think. Much of it over very rocky terrain. That night we slept at the Harpers Creek Shelter. It was truly beautiful. So isolated and awe inspiring. The trees were so tall and lush they blocked out much of the sky. You just don't experience that in our busy lives these days. 

  

Saturday was a rough day. The sun was shinning and it was warmer. Probably high 70's. We had to hike another 5.6 miles out and we were all tired and sore from the day before. We had hopes that this would be an easier day since the map said we would be going down hill most of the way but it just meant that we would go down to go up again and again and again. We were so beat by the time we finished at 2pm. Kai's pack had been redistributed on Saturday morning and Emil took Noah's pack the last mile and a half. We were all sweating the entire time and soaked thru and thru. We spent a hour at the lake playing before we showered and started for home. I don' t know that I'll ever willingly agree to do another hike like that but at least now I can said I've done it. If any of you want a tour guide, I'm sure Emil would be glad to take you on a scenic hike.... just remember to bring your Ben-Gay!