This past weekend was my 30th birthday. I’ve been dreading it for a while now, probably since the day I turned 29, for me it just felt like the cut-off and I would officially be old…

Ally was determined that I would have a good time and enjoy my birthday so she booked us a trip to the Lake Champlain area of Vermont, Rusty came too. We headed up in the early afternoon on Friday, settled into our place then headed into Burlington for dinner.

We walked along the water and spent some time checking out the city, I was in the mood for a good beer and some bar food so we found a local brewery, perfect! We got a table on the patio so Rusty could enjoy the night too.

Ally and Rusty enjoying the sunset over Lake Champlain

Waiting outside the brewery for a table to open up on the patio

Suddenly, not so scared to turn 30 the next day…

There’s no stopping time though, so August 4th was bound to come. The day started off a bit ruff (pun intended) as Rusty thought it would be nice to wake me up at 1:30am and wish me a happy birthday (which is actually the time I think I was born, could be 1:30pm though??), he is always a bit concerned the first night we sleep somewhere new. Once the sun actually came up we grabbed some breakfast and took Rusty for a walk. Later that day we went back into Burlington, despite the fact it was 90+ degrees, humid, and no wind we found a place to park and took a quick walk where Rusty got to go for a swim in the lake and cool off. Turns out we parked next to a soft serve ice-cream truck so we got ice cream and sat in the shade and relaxed for awhile (my old age afternoon nap).

We were staying at a Culinary Resort (the food was amazing) so Ally enrolled us in a cooking class which was tons of fun. Ally told everyone it was my 30th and I made friends with the head chef so he kept my wine glass full and we capped off the night with a glass of cognac! After that the resort had a fire pit and s’mores so we just had to try a few.

Showing off for our class

The next day after breakfast we checked out and despite the looming thunder storms on the radar we were determined to hike Mt. Mansfield. It is the tallest mountain in Vermont at 4,395 ft. and was only 20 minutes away, we just had to. We kept a close eye on the weather, it looked like things were breaking up a bit and we might get lucky, either that or soaked.

Taking a rest and watching the weather

We kept hiking and checking the radar, the rain seemed to be holding off. There was one big glob on the radar that looked pretty nasty and was headed our way. Our hope was that it would come and pass us before we broke tree-line so we wouldn’t be exposed incase there was any lightning. As we pushed closer to tree line the storms were doing the same.

Ally and baby climbing some steep parts up Mt. Mansfield

When we finally broke tree line the worst of the rain missed us, we were right on the edge of a light band but nothing we couldn’t handle. The views above tree-line weren’t great, but for some reason the worse the weather, the more I enjoy it.

Breaking tree-line and entering the clouds

From that point on the rain seemed to clear out, besides a few spots of heavy wind the hike was great and the weather held for us. We made it to the top of Vermont! We’ve now done the high points in MA, NH, ME and VT.

The family sitting on top of Mt. Mansfield, 4,395ft.

Baby made it too. Ally starting her 8th month

The hike down was fairly easy and uneventful in terms of weather. The brief rain that came through seemed to cool things off a bit so Rusty was happy about that. We ended up doing 7 miles in just over 5 hours. Considering the breaks we took and the extra person Ally is carrying I don’t think we’ve slowed down any since it was just the two of us.

Clouds over Mt. Mansfield

One final stop on our way home, since we were practically driving right by, Rusty made us stop at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory.

Rusty at his new favorite place

Ally planned the weekend perfectly and I wouldn’t have wanted anything different for my birthday. In the end it was just what I needed to help me get over this hump, I’ve realized that 30 is no different than 29, I have so much to look forward to and I think I’m at the perfect age to start this next chapter of my life. I’m proud to be 30, to have an amazing wife and am excited to become a father.

For our six month adventure trip we headed back up to the white mountains to hike Mt. Adams and Jefferson (the second and third highest peaks in New England). Our plan was to drive up Saturday morning and hike up to Grey Knob cabin to set up camp for the night, the morning went as planned. Since Ally is carrying the baby and Rusty likes to run and sniff too much to be bothered by a pack, I had the privilege of carrying a 55 pound pack to support our growing family…

We made it up to the cabin around 12:30, set up our beds for the night and had lunch.

Grey Knob cabin

After lunch the plan was to hike up to Adams and back, a quick 2.5 mile trip, then rest up for Jefferson on Sunday before heading back down. Our over ambition got the best of us again as we decided to tackle Jefferson then follow the ridge over to the summit of Adams before heading back to camp, an additional 6 miles on top of the 3 miles it took to get to the cabin from the car.

Family photo at the summit of Mt. Jefferson

There were some bumps and bruises along the way, I fell and sprained my ankle descending Jefferson so Ally had to bandage me up so I could hobble over to Adams.

Ally wrapping my ankle after a fall on Mt. Jefferson

We eventually made it, pretty much the whole trip above tree line was loose rock that required a lot of jumping and ankle bending, not a very fun hike, but the views from up top were amazing, another perfectly clear day in the mountains.

6 month belly shot at the summit of Mt. Adams

After a “good” sleep we had some breakfast and then we packed up and headed 4 miles back down the trail rounding out our two day 13 mile trip.

Groggy morning at Grey Knob

This past friday we finally had our ultrasound to determine if the little baby growing in Ally’s belly is a baby boy or girl. We could have found out last week but our doctor decided it would be a good idea for her to take a vacation… and of course she was booked the entire week she got back so we had to wait till Friday to see her.

First and most importantly, baby and mom are perfectly healthy, and the baby is right on track for a due date of October 3rd.

Our baby at 21 weeks

Once we knew what we were having we decided to have a little fun with it. Since my grandparents were up visiting from North Carolina and we were having dinner with them that Sunday we thought it would be fun to get a cake to celebrate and keep the sex a surprise until the cake was cut (blue frosting for a boy, pink for a girl).

Most of us were impatiently waiting and hurrying through dinner to get to desert, here was the outcome!

The cake

My gramps, finding out if he’s having a Great Grandson or Great Granddaughter

My family was pretty much split 50/50 on boy or girl while Ally’s was pretty sure (or hopeful) it was a boy since there are already 3 girls and only 1 boy to her two brothers. But like everyone says, as long as it’s a healthy baby, that’s all that matters.

For those who are color blind and can’t see the blue frosting

So for those that don’t know, I work in a small office of women (with exception to my boss) who are all already proud moms. Similar to announcing with Eric’s family I wanted to do something fun and drag out the announcement as long as possible. I love making cupcakes and was excited when I found a recipe for frosting stuffed cupcakes where I could dye the inside color pink or blue. Although the cupcakes weren’t sliced into as delicately as the cake, they were actually squashed into by a couple coworkers who couldn’t wait to find out, it was fun to get a little creative.

And inside was blue frosting!

Now that we are half way through pregnancy Ally is finally starting to show signs that she’s having a baby. In our typical photojournalistic lifestyle we’ve decided to document each passing month with a memorable photo. With a slight twist; we are going to take a photo of Ally’s belly each month from now till the due date on top of a mountain.

Backtracking a bit, it seems that each month we’ve already done a big, challenging climb. To start things off, we were in St. Lucia when Ally was around 10 weeks and climbed both of the Pitons (many locals we spoke to have never climbed either). The first and bigger of the two was actually the easier, just your basic hike up to just over 2500 feet, but starting at the beach. The second Piton we climbed, Petit Piton, was only slightly smaller, just under 2500 feet only we needed to use ropes to pull ourselves up near vertical walls. It was a lot of fun and a major accomplishment. Below are a few photos from the trip:

Us with our guide Mac and Solomon at the beach after hiking Gros Piton

Eric rappelling down a cliff of Petit Piton

Ally ducking through the rabbit hole of Petit Piton

April brought us to our long awaited hike up Mt. Monroe. This was going to be our first of the NH 4000 footers until we got there and realized there was still 4 feet of snow on the ground last April. We’ve been wanting to go back ever since and finally got our chance on a beautiful, although forecasted for rain, day.

Group photo at the top of Mt. Monroe

Ally and Rusty show the blue sky above Washington.

Which brings us to May. We figured this might be our last chance for a BIG hike so we planned a good one. 8.7 miles over three peaks. We had set our sights on the Franconia Ridge, hiking up Mt. Lafayette, over Lincoln and Little Haystack and down the Falling Waters trail back to the car. It was another perfect day for hiking, clear sky’s and mid to upper 70’s. I had guessed it would take us about 8 hours. Well, we made it to the top of Lafayette in under three hours and were back to the car just at the six hour mark. We had enough time to grab an ice cream for Rusty and relax in the sun a bit before our drive home.

The family on top of Lafayette

The first official “Belly Shot”, Ally’s 5 Month Belly on top of Lafayette

Next up: We are headed to the Presidential’s to check off Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson on an overnight adventure.