2-6

While 26 is not typically a milestone birthday, this year seemed big because of the unexpected change of not having Sloane here with us to celebrate. I had not really spent a lot of time thinking about my birthday (preoccupied with other thoughts...), but luckily, I have some great people who helped me avoid a potentially hard day by making this probably the best birthday yet. Pretty crazy.

The celebrations started Friday night when Josh took me to see Newsies in Philadelphia. It was awesome-high energy, active, and so fun!

On Monday, we went to Baltimore to see Josh's mom who is singing in an international chorus competition there this week. We spent the day together which was a nice treat. 

My actual birthday was relatively low-key, with the exception of getting a different car...that took up a lot of the day and ended up being a surprisingly fun process. The best parts of the day though, were getting surprised by friends "scattering sunshine" into my life. 

2 lbs of Sour Patch Kids (favorite fave candy ever), lined leggings, a sunshiney yellow hat, a picture of sun shining through the Sacred Grove, and lots of pictures of sun! 

 

 

The sweet YW in my ward also came over and put sunshines all over my front door and left sunshine cupcakes. 

                                                     

Not pictured: my mom sent a little package with everything yellow in Wal-Mart that would fit into a small box...yellow washcloth and hand towel, yellow loofa, Juicy Fruit, Carmex, yellow sticky notes, peanut M&M's...you get the picture. 

Life is hard, but it is so much better with great friends who look out for you. 

Epic Road Trip

Josh and I are currently in Mississippi for the summer, but before we came here, we took 3 weeks off to see family, friends, and see our beloved mountains out west again. We loaded up our Prius and it magically became the PUV-Prius Utility Vehicle. I honestly don't know why everyone doesn't own a Prius. We fit camping gear (2 sleeping bags, 4 man tent, 2 sleeping pads, tarp, 2 pillows), tennis rackets, a football, 2 large suitcases, 2 backpacks, a box of soil, 2 people, a 70 lb dog (and all that he needs), and a bike in/on this little car!

  

                                                                         Buster!

 

My FIL proudly showed us his garden.

 

The main event of the day was a whiffle ball game--there were only a few heated discussions on rules and technique. 

It was a short visit, but always fun to be there and see loved ones again!

In-Laws Visit

Five days after we got back from DC, Josh's parents came out for their visit to see us in our new home. I have a feeling they will be visiting a lot more now that we are so close to them. It was a very busy week and lots of fun!

Baltimore Aquarium

I LOVE turtles.

4D movie, including a shark attack!

This little bird is SO loud! It is so cute when he makes the sound, he rears his whole body back to get enough power. If you listen at the end of the sloth video, you can hear him.

We got a treat-we watched this sloth move across the whole rain forest room! They can stay in the same spot for up to two days, so we were lucky. Here's a video of him in action::

We also went to the beach twice! The first day we tried out Cape Henlopen and the next day we went to Rehoboth. They were both crazy busy, no surprise there. Josh's mom also got us boogie boards, but the waves were very, very lame.

Funny face Josh

The most important part of their trip is that I discovered my new love--Rita's! It is an italian ice shop where you can get gelato on top of your ice, and it is pure heaven. I am entirely addicted, plus they have already sent me two coupons, which means this addiction is sustainable. Good thing.