Jam Packed Weekend

This last weekend happened to be Nik's last weekend before he leaves. It also happened to coincide with 4th of July and our second wedding anniversary. Needless to say, it was extremely eventful. After arriving home on Thursday night from class, Nik and I went through the process of packing up our camping gear. We decided to take a couple days with Nik's buddies and "rough it" in the mountains near Shaver Lake. This was pretty exciting for Nik and I because it gave us our first opportunity to use our new camping gear. Nik and I were thrilled with our new tent, sleeping bags and 80 cubic liter backpack! We look forward to building up our collection of camping gear so that we can continue take more trips in the future.

We arrived home on Saturday afternoon and immediately made a run for the shower, both of us had managed to collect a good portion of dirt on our bodies and clothing. Since we camped with friends, we didn't get too much sleep, so we took a couple hour nap after finishing our showers. Later, we went over to a friend's family party to eat incredible food and shoot off our own fireworks. There were a handful of children present, so we had a blast entertaining them with sparklers and poppers. Some celebrations really are enhanced by the presence of children. I can't help but get a kick out watching the expressions on their faces as they experience something new and exciting.

Sunday was our second anniversary and spent mostly out and about. We met Nik's grandfather and his grandfather's best friend and family for breakfast at Toledo's, a Mexican food restaurant with a superb Mariachi band. This has been tradition between his grandfather his grandfather's friend for a number of years. The food is very good and the music festive. Once we finished eating, we wanted to run over to Target to get some items for Nik before he takes off. We also checked out some things that we have considered purchasing for the house, I want Nik to be part of as many aspects of the home buying experience as he can be. Before heading home, we stopped off at Nik's aunt and uncle's house to chat with the family. Nik proceeded to spend most of his time on the floor, wrestling with his 13 and 11 year old cousins (which pretty much takes place every single time they spend time together).

To cap off the night we went for Teppan-Yaki, one of our favorite places to eat. We of course ate way too much, but it's so hard to stop! After we finished, we came home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the couch, a book in my hand and a remote control in Nik's =) Altogether, a very pleasant, fun, relaxing and busy weekend.