On Saturday, I turned 30 years old!
And since you only get a Saturday birthday once every 7 years or so, I planned an all-day celebration extravaganza for the family.
It began with an early breakfast at the Silver Grill Cafe, one of Fort Collins' oldest and most delicious diners.
The place was packed. As you all know, it was also Mother's Day weekend. And since Sunday's forecast called for snow, everyone was out celebrating on Saturday.
We arrived at 8:30am, but our order wasn't taken until 9:30am. It took at lot of patience from all us. But Sage really lost it. He was a complete terror throughout the entire experience. He refused to sit, refused to eat, and simply wanted to run around. Matt and I had very little control over him... We ate in 5 minute shifts, passing the boy back and forth like a sack of scalding hot potatoes. We swore we would never take him to a restaurant again. And I still stand by that!
Matt broke down and ordered an emergency bloody mary, so as to not have a heart attack. I also could have used some liquor, but was able to divert my attention to giant cinnamon rolls instead.
The rest of the day's planned activities were a hike in Poudre Canyon and a gourmet picnic along the Poudre River.
Immediately following our chaotic breakfast, we realized we had left the cooler of fancy picnic foods on the kitchen counter. We had everything else you could ever need at a picnic...just no food. It took us 30 minutes round trip to retrieve the cooler and get back on route to the canyon.
I had the perfect trail in mind. And we drove far up into the canyon to reach it. But we were greeted by the following sign....
So far the morning was going GREAT!
But we pressed on and opted for a different trail. And just like last weekend (when our trail of choice did not work out) we still had a great time!
Matt taught Sage all about cacti. And we decided to call them "ouchies" so Sage would really get the point that you DO NOT TOUCH. And all day long he kept identifying ouchies along the trail. I think our plan worked!
The entire trail followed a meandering stream, which we had to wade across several times by using large stepping stones left by previous hikers.
Roughly 100 years ago, a family had built several homes along the trail. We found remnants of about three of them.
Sage picked lots of flowers during the return hike.
He had quite the bouquet by the end of the excursion.
A quick stop for some water...
"Everyone point at the birthday girl!!!!"
Sadly, the weather started to turn shortly after our hike. Cloud cover, dipping temps, and spitting rain. We ate a small amount of cheese and fruit right along the river as planned, then decided we were miserable, and packed up to head home.
Then it was present time! I received all my birthday and Mother's Day gifts at once. I got some very thoughtful items. Including a Hotel Collection terrycloth robe, a double Belgian waffle maker, a down-alternative pillow, a Kavu sling backpack, and a butter dish for the counter top (because I am so sick of ice-cold unspreadable butter!) I feel very spoiled by my family. :)
By the end of the day we were all very exhausted.
And on Sunday we woke up to SNOW!!!!
What the hell?!?! It's May, people!
So creative he is.
Monday rolled around way too soon and we began the dance once again.
Sage and his dad are so identical. It's hysterical.
Nice to know they both read the same kind of material...and in the same location.
Now me - I prefer to do my reading elsewhere!
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