7 year anniversary - recap and hike

Today is our 7-year wedding anniversary! We've had a great celebration weekend. On Saturday we got a sitter and headed to Boulder. We walked the always-entertaining Pearl Street Mall (an outdoor area with lots of shops, restaurants, and crazy, only-in-Boulder street performers). We ended up having dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I hadn't been there in a while, and opted for the fish tacos, which were divinely delicious. Fish tacos are one of my favorite foods, and they did not disappoint! After dinner we walked around, shopped, and got an ice cream. After the sun set, we drove up a road outside of Boulder (past Chataqua for those who are Boulder-savvy) and parked at an overlook (no, not that kind of parked), and then sat on a bench overlooking all of Boulder Valley. It was so beautiful, peaceful and quiet. And don't you think it's a gift in and of itself anytime you come home to a quiet home full of sleeping children?

Then this morning we took the kiddos on a family hike outside of Lyons, another fave location. We are a hiking family, and the kids are terrific hikers. Connor is a seasoned hiker and always does great, but I was a slight bit worried about Isabel, as Lucas has now taken over the backpack. She really did great. I carried her a couple of times (or as she says, "I wanna carry you!" - I wish she could sometimes), but otherwise she did great. The area we hiked has tons of signs posted about mountain lions and rattlesnakes, and I get a bit paranoid. Clearly Isabel caught on, because everytime she heard a noise she'd say, "Shhh! Everyone be quiet. Do you hear a rattle?" We ended up with a fun, snake-free adventure.

A brief look back to the beginning. An engagement photo:


And our wedding day:

Pictures from the hike. I love how Lucas is just hangin' in the backpack before we got going.

My favorite people in the whole world:
Pardon my sans-makeup-and-fixed-hair trail look:
The troopers:
Connor my handsome outdoor boy:
We rewarded the kids with a little cool-off in the river:

What a fun couple of days!

Thanks, Brian, for 7 years of ups, downs, laughter, tears, triumphs, failures, adventures, challenges, children, friendship and memories. I love you.