Year of Dan Part 1

We've been referring to this year, for reasons that probably will become obvious on this Blog throughout the year, as "the year of Dan."  The irony is not lost on me that this post is being made less than 15 minutes after Kristen's birthday post.  Sorry, Kristen.

I wanted to get a few pictures up of things done as part of the year of Dan.  A few weeks back, my friend Rick and I went climbing at Manchester Wall.  That's not too unusual, but I thought we got some cool pictures.

Me on Manchester Wall

For context, here's a picture taken from on top of Manchester Wall looking at downtown Richmond in the background.

Me on Manchester Wall

Rick on one of the pillars at Manchester Wall

A couple weeks ago on a Monday night, a coworker and I drove down to Hampton Roads to see Pearl Jam.  It was awesome.  Not quite as awesome as when I saw them in Cville in 2013, but still awesome.

My birthday

Having a Saturday birthday is the way to go. You have time to do a few things that you need to do, and then time to do something fun. I started out the day with a run. Then got ready and Dan and I did a little bit of work in the garage. Mom and Dad came over and we went to Sam's soccer game.

I'd been wanting to explore Richmond and had found some trails that were supposed to be nice along the north bank of the James River. So that's what I decided we should do. I completely forgot that we have a 15-month-old and, besides a wide stroller, only a bjorn meant for infants. So we got there, took the trail for about .1 mile (maybe less) when Afton said she had to use the bathroom. So I took her back to the delightful porta-potty and then we continued a little bit further. The stroller wasn't handling the terrain very well and it was a narrow trail with runners and bikers trying to pass us. So we decided to scrap it and walk around Byrd Park.

It was a gorgeous day! Dad treated us to Mission BBQ for dinner and then we headed home to eat dessert and open presents.

Dan's latest cake creation. The lips and the word "lips" were filled with (homemade) red sugar crystals, so that's why the coloring is a little off. I loved it!

It was a super great day! Some girls from church were talking the other day about how their ideal age is 28, but I'm pretty happy with where I am. Thanks to Mom and Dad for spending the day with us and thanks for all the messages/phone calls/texts!