twenty-six

So it's been several weeks since my birthday, but I have to write about it because of the hike we went on to celebrate it. First of all, if you know me, what better way to celebrate a birthday than with an outdoor adventure? I told Michael about this hike 2 months in advance so he could get psyched up for it because I REALLY wanted to do it - but it was 10 miles: a bit long for a 7 month old and a husband with a bad knee. It's called the Trail of Ten Falls in the Silver Falls State Park here in Oregon and oh.my. is it absolutely breathtaking. Ten water falls in 10 miles (upon further inspection it turned out to be 8 waterfalls in 5 miles and another 5 mile out and back for the last 2 falls) with a path that winds deep into a luscious, forest-y canyon along the river the whole time. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beauty-full! You wind back behind a couple of the falls, cross over the river several times, and just lose yourself in what Michael called, "'Lord of the Rings' landscape" (I'm not quite sure of the comparison because, to be honest, despite my English capstone class being on the comparison of the books and the movies and my multiple attempts to watch the movies, I still have not been able to stay awake through the movies or even really remember that much about them besides the evil sound of, "My precious...").
Anyway, you start out the hike going behind the first huge waterfall and from that moment on, Caden was in heaven. This kid loved every second of this hike!

 

 Best family picture ever!

Happy Birthday to me!

We finished off our fun day with pie shakes at Shari's - a new favorite in our family :)

YUM!