ANNIVERSARY/DADDY

IToday we celebrated Father's Day and our 16th wedding Anniversary! I got up early to help get things ready but when I went out to the hallway, I was quickly shoos back into the bedroom! The kids were already up and buzzing around. While we waited, Chris and I reminisced about all the houses and places we've lived. Some of them seem like a lifetime ago and others not so much! A few minutes later, we were escorted to the kitchen where "a table for two" was waiting......

The kids had cute cards for their Dad and "Happy Anniversary" cards too. We dined on one of Chris' favorite breakfasts.... Lucky Charms! (It was fun to see how excited everyone was to have a bowl, count their marshmallows, eat them last, etc.....and we put down nearly an entire family-sized box!)

We got ready for the day and headed to the mountains for a picnic. I think Kate asked "Where goin, Mom?" No less than 40 times on the drive up.;)  Olivia was the only one dressed for the brisk 47 degree rain that we came upon at Echo Lake..... So we descended into Evergreen and made a pit stop at Walmart for cheap sweatshirts before looking for the perfect picnic spot.

Everyone was starving when we made it to Rainbow Trail, but in Father's Day Tradition, we had to have a little taste test first! This year's test subject: DORITOS! 

This guys knows his chips! I think he only missed one and several of the favors were new to him. The kids LOVED watching him and of course helped sample the chips!

Lunch was fun. We certainly had tons of chips!! 

At lunch we talked about the last time we spent our anniversary with the kids. It was in 2008, we were living in Germany, and our neighbor was going to babysit for us. She ended up not being able to but we had such big plans that we were not about to cancel! We loaded up the kids and headed to the next town over where the place were were dying to go was located. Pizza Hut!! We were SO excited to have American style pizza! It was wonderful. I remember that Olivia and baby Nick sat on one side of the table and Chris and I sat together on the opposite side. (This was a date after all!) We enjoyed our dinner and then spent some time in the parking garage. Turns out we didn't have any Euro coins with us and that was the only form of money accepted at the parking garage. So there we stood, with a four year old and a baby in a car seat, pan handling on our anniversary. It was hilarious and mortifying at the same time. We did get enough donations to eventually get out of there. Ah, good times!!

 We did a scavenger hunt with the kids after lunch and the boys took the win. This little lady in her trashy $2.00 "Rebel to the Bone" sweatshirt was most concerned with her cupcake and carried it around with her everywhere she went....

We headed into Evergreen's town lake to giving fishing a shot. The boys were SO excited, especially Ben. Sadly, they spent most of their time untangling their lines and catching trash. Meanwhile,  Kate and I went for a walk and found these......

Lots of baby Geese! We also found an Oreo that we fed to them and she loved it.

Our Father's Day celebration wound down and we headed home. Chris and I exchanged cards and had a little sparkling cider to celebrate our special day.

 It is crazy to think of all that has happened in the last sixteen years. I wouldn't change any of it! I told Chris that I love him more today than I did on our wedding day. And I meant it! XO