On Aug 12, 9:42*am, Steve Cain wrote:

The backpack is pretty cool, snip

That backpack will start building its own memories, if you use it
anything like the way I used ours when my kids were small.

One photograph memory has me and daughter #1, at an overlook in the
Porkies. It's a crisp September day, a few leaves on the maples have
changed, and off in the distance is big, blue Gitchee Gumee. I've got
a goofy grin on my face and #1 looks placid and happy. If a stranger
saw the picture, it's just another of a dad carrying his kid on a
hike. But I know that just 15 minutes earlier, she'd puked her PB&J
after one jostle too many. She wasn't too unhappy before the puking,
and was perhaps mildly happier after. She's always been an easy going
kid, and this day was like most others in the woods with her.

Unphotographed are the many, many XC skiing outings she and I, and her
younger sister and I, took with that same backpack. Yes, you can ski
with it. The "live" load takes a while to get used to, and I never
bounded down the hills quite as aggressively with her on my back as I
did without, but you can do it. Oh, and bundle the load more heavily
than yourself. I'd sweat like a pig most days, but the young one
isn't skiing like you are, so plenty of loose layers. Most days, my
mittens ended up on her hands (er, ARMS!) as an extra layer. Those
little digits can get cold in a hurry!

Lots of other memories as well attached to that Kid Karrier and those
it carried. I gave #2 a piggy-back to bed last night and I'm glad I'm
not carrying her regularly any more! Enjoy these days, Steve, they'll
be distant memories before you know it!

Wm