Daniel is 35

Another year is in the books for Daniel. It is hard to believe that he is already 35 (and that I will be in a few months). 

The last couple of years have been a bit of a blur. Between Daniel's crazy work hours and raising little ones, the days are both long and short. We blink and another day, month, year has passed us by.

We have been desperately trying to find ways to embrace this stage and to take advantage of the short time we have with each other and our boys. Thankfully Daniel was able to have his actual birthday off (after the last year, I will never take Saturdays for granted again!) and we were able to spend some quality time with family.

We started our morning by sleeping in. Winning! Then went to Lookout Mountain for a 3-mile hike at Lula Lake.

After our hike we stopped at the newest location of Mojo Burrito (one of our favorite burrito joints) in St. Elmo at the base of Lookout. The food was fantastic (as usual) and we loved the outdoor dining space.
 

Daniel's mom and sisters met us at Mojo and then we all went back to our house to celebrate Daniel's birthday with delicious cupcakes they had brought with them from The Painted Cupcake in Nashville (this is becoming a tradition). 

After cupcakes and visiting, Daniel and I cleaned up and left our boys in the capable hands of their nana and aunts and made our way downtown to the Bluffs View Art District for coffee at Rembrandt's Coffee House (a favorite, and also becoming a tradition).

We savored our coffee and the much needed date (though we did end up talking about the boys a bit). The best part of Daniel's day (for him) was that when he was parallel parking our car, some young whipper snappers walked by and said, "That guy must have a back-up camera." Indicating that Daniel did such a good job parking there was no way he could have done it in one shot without a camera. Kudos to my husband and his proficiency at parallel parking!

The boys had a wonderful time with our family and it was nice to have an evening off from bedtime duties.

Sunday after church, we met Daniel's dad and his wife at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Abuelo's, in Hamilton Place. We discovered this restaurant while I was pregnant with Isaac and we love their chips and salsa.
 

We are so thankful Daniel was able to be home with us for his birthday and that we were able to see his family and pack a lot into our weekend.

Happy Birthday, Daniel. We love you to the moon and back and I look forward to many, many, many more years together!

Lula Lake Land Trust

For the first time in a very long time, we had a normal (to us) weekend. Daniel found out on Friday that he would actually have Saturday (his birthday) off. So we quickly made plans to take advantage of the fact that the Lula Lake Land Trust would be open.

Lula Lake is a conservation property that is open to the public two Saturdays a month. With six miles of trails for hiking and biking, and a waterfall, it is a perfect place for a family day trip. It also has trails that connect to Cloudland Canyon.

Jack can currently hike about 1 mile at a time. Our goal is to build up his stamina as we add more hikes to our hectic schedule. On Saturday, we chose to do a 3-mile loop. We started on the Middle Trail, making our way to the falls. Then after a snack break we walked back to the car via the North Creek Trail, ending with the Ford Trail. 

To keep Jack moving, we allowed him to pick up rocks (which he stored in his pockets), and we found him a sturdy walking stick. The stick kept him focused on the trail and helped him with balance (until he was too tired to walk on his own).

About a mile into our walk, Jack was tired so Daniel carried him the rest of the way. At almost 40 pounds, Jack made the hike more of a workout for Daniel (I was carrying 20-pound Isaac, so we both got a good workout). 

The falls were pretty. There are signs everywhere saying not to swim. While we were there, several people did take a dip in the water. Jack didn't understand why he couldn't get in while others were clearly getting wet. 

If we go back, I would consider skipping the Middle Trail and taking advantage of the Creek and Ford trails and letting Jack wade in the creek. 

There were quite a few people there, but the trails were not crowded. It was so nice to finally be back in the wilderness and spend some quality time together as a family.