Prepared after all

Tyler asked me the other day: "Who let us become adults anyway?"

It's a good question — one that my friend Tara and I have often discussed. We've known each other since we were 8 or 9 years old, and it's hard to imagine how far we've come from playing battleship at elementary school sleepovers, to moving out of our folks' homes in order to make news ones for ourselves.

My dad always said that all he ever wanted was to raise my brother and me so we'd be equipped to make decisions on our on. He never told us what we should do with our lives — he just made sure we had all the proper tools to handle situations and opportunities that came our way.

And I think those tools are what brought me into adulthood, whether I wanted some of the responsibilities or not. If you ask my mom, she'll tell you've I've been ready for more responsibilities since I was little. When I was in preschool, she didn't buy me the Barbie car I wanted (remember those electric cars for little kids to drive?) because she knew I'd try to take it on the road to see my friends. I guess I told her that I thought it was the kid's version of an automobile, and it was my way of getting around the 16-year-old age requirement.

But it's one thing to think you're ready than to realize you're ready. No matter what is waiting around the corner, I know I'm set to make those choices now.

I guess I'm prepared after all.

Home

Nothing like some juicebox wine on top of a mountain for Memorial Day.

We made it home from our trip, and decided to go for a hike on our vacation decompression day. When we got to the trailhead out State Route 4, we found that it still was covered in snow. Tyler had hiked the trail before, so he led the way. Needless to say we didn't find the lake we were hoping to picnic at, but we did see a bear and get to the top of a pretty cool mountain.

Boulder

Logan graduated from high school and is now ready for his party.

And we made it to Boulder — just in time to party. There were two celebrations on Saturday: Logan's high school graduation and Mazie James' first birthday. One of the highlights was watching Mazie attack her birthday cake:

Madison

Shortly after some beer and brauts, a quick trip to the neighborhood zoo, a bike buddy blunder and a potluck — we're now headed to Boulder. Here are some pics from the zoo:



Mazie, Tyler and Katie.

Chicago

The trip got off to a rough start, partly because Tyler, Quinn and I thought it was a good idea to shoot pool at The Goalpost until the airport shuttle arrived at 6 a.m. Quinn dropped me and Tyler off at the shuttle in pretty poor shape, to say the least.

But Tyler and I thoroughly enjoyed Chicago — especially the Lincoln Park area. As for our culinary adventures, we ate a fabulous meal at Avec. It's a small, simple restaurant that doesn't take reservations, but the food is great. One of our favorite dishes featured dates stuffed with chorizo. And to top off the visit, we ate at Alinea — where we ate an awesome 24 course dinner with wine pairings.

Now we're headed to Madison to see the Dickinsons, and ride in a car for 16 hours to get to Boulder...

VACATION!!!

I'm usually not the type of person who likes to use excessive capitalization and exclamation marks, but I"M ON VACATION!!! It's the only way to truly express the excitement welling up inside me. Tyler said he'd be just as excited as soon as he gets off work at 6 p.m.

Now I just need to clean the house, run a few errands and pack. Chicago, Madison and Boulder — here we come!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I wish I could be hanging out at the house with you, Dad and Grandma. I love you, and I can't wait to see you this summer.

And Happy Mother's Day Tracy and Katie! We'll be seeing you in less than two weeks.

Taste of summer

Hiking season is almost here, so I took the dogs on part of the Tahoe Rim Trail today. There's still a lot of snow, so we had to turn back when we lost sight of the trail about four miles into the hike.

Sidenote — I didn't put anything in Aspen's backpack, but I wanted her to get used to wearing it again so she can carry her own food when we go camping. Now we just need one for Moses so he can carry everything...

Johnny Mac and me

My mom just sent me this picture of me and Mac going to visit Beulah in her trailer. I'm the short one...