Day 8 of Life: Rai's First 'Hike'

Just around the corner and two blocks downhill.
In the few short months that we've been in this new apartment, we've followed those directions dozens of times. Today, however, our usual walk towards the 43rd Avenue entrance to Golden Gate Park took on much more meaning. This was the first time we would take this city hike as a family of three.
The sun shone brightly on Rai's first week birthday. The warmth of the sun coupled with the fact that we'd been locked indoors for more than a week now was more than enough to convince us that this would be the perfect chance to take Rai out on his first outing or, as we'd prefer to call it, his first hike.
So, around the corner and downhill two blocks we went with Rai strapped onto Maciej's belly, the rocking of his steps lulling Rai into a womb-like state of bliss. We followed our typical route: around the wild and beautiful lake at that Park entrance, then into the forest beyond, heading for the Pacific Ocean only 5 blocks away.
We wouldn't make it to the Pacific today; Rai was hungry, Ashe was still fatigued from the difficult week behind us. Instead, we lay down in the grass, found a nice log on which to lay our little boy, and enjoyed the sun on our skin. Rai too, loved his first dose of warm afternoon rays.
This is a 'hike' we'll be doing very often with Rai -- the trees, water, flowers and sound of surf reminding us that there are hundreds of hikes we must show Rai in San Francisco and beyond.
One at a time, we'll make each and every one of the natural places we've come to love in the hills, along the coast, and in the forests around San Francisco even more special by showing them to little Rai.