My 30th Birthday

Yesterday I turned 30. Kind of hard to believe. Not that I really had an expectation as to what 30 would be like or feel like. In fact,(so far) I am not bothered by getting older. I love birthdays!

My youngest brother shares my birthday (7 years younger.) Although we each get our own birthday dinner celebration, I thought it'd be fun to do something together with our family. We rented a cabin at Platte River State Park.

(nephews/monkeys)

Saturday's weather was absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed hiking and playing outside, as well as a cookout and s'mores by the fire. Then we stayed up way too late playing games...some of which we invented ourselves.

Here are 2 new ways to use your Apples to Apples cards:

1) Choose a red card and place it on your forehead without looking at it but facing out so everyone else can read it. (I preferred tucking it behind some glasses. Others chose the "lick it & stick it" method...ew.) Then ask yes/no questions (20-questions style) to figure out what your card says. Some of them are really hard!

2) Choose a red card and read it to yourself. Give a one-word clue to the person to your left. If they guess incorrectly, move on to the next person and give them an additional one-word clue, repeating until someone gets it right. On the next turn, shift to the next person so everyone has a turn to be the first guesser.

Sunday was kind of rainy and dreary...which ended up being perfect for napping off the late night and losing an hour.

[Can I please state that my nephew snuggling on my brother (his uncle) is just about the cutest thing ever?! Love.]

But yesterday (my actual birthday) was another beautiful day! As soon as I got home from work I headed out on a run. I love that with the time change we get so much more daylight! I squeezed in just over 2.5 quick miles before it was time to get ready for our dinner reservation.

Kate took me to a new restaurant in Benson called Lot 2. They are located next door to Krug Park. The food was great, the atmosphere was fabulous, and the drinks were delicious. The company was pretty good, too.

Then we came home for mini-cake and presents(!!) I really love presents. Kate always does such a great job. I'm very excited about my new fancy orange tea kettle!

All of this fun, combined with winning the gnome scavenger hunt on Saturday(!), made for a lovely birthday weekend. I'm looking forward to my 30s and everything wonderful they will bring. Especially getting married (to a younger woman!) in just a few short months!