My prior boss, Bert, and his wife, Marta, gifted me an infant hiking backpack at a baby shower thrown at my office. I’ve been patiently waiting for the right time to begin hiking with Rost. We’ve recently begun practicing around the property to get used to the pack on both of us.

Our first trek out into the world was a short one-and-a-quarter-mile hike around a nearby pond. While short, it was only 20 degrees out, so that added another element of fun into our first adventure out.

Finally, Rost and I took off for a trail within Lone Pine State Park. It was 15 degrees out on that fine Tuesday afternoon. While the hike was overall a success, there were obvious improvements that I need to make on our next hike, regardless of the distance. This one was short enough that I didn’t think we’d need to pack along any sort of snacks. Rost made it very clear that I was wrong. One of my duties as a Momma is to ALWAYS have a fresh and plentiful supply of snacks on hand. Momma will do better next time, Rost.