Birthday Fun!

Yesterday I told you about my early birthday dinner at the food truck. Today I want to tell you about my actual birthday!

Back when we sat down with Tim and Justine to figure out all our days off for the spring months, I was the only one of the four of us who didn't get my birthday off. Tim and Justine were in a wedding this past weekend, so they obviously had to take the day, which meant I couldn't. I was super sad about it, but I understood. However...when they ended up leaving at the end of April, we had to revamp all our days off for the month of May. In the revamping, it worked out that I could take my birthday, and it was such a gift. 

Another thing that was such a gift was Abby's return! We had to take her into the shop for a little work before summer travels, and she ended up being gone TWO WEEKS! I had started to panic that she'd been RV-napped. But that very morning, they called to say she was done, and I could have cried. And I did hug her.

Anyway. Remember Ryan's birthday? Cold, soggy, rainy mess? Mine was the exact opposite of that. So he was able to plan an outdoor activity for us! We slept in a little bit that morning and then went to visit Eagle Marsh, which is a nature preserve on the south side of Fort Wayne. 

It's such a strange place, because it's an 831 acre preserve - literally in the city. One side of it almost borders one of the biggest hospitals in Fort Wayne and another side borders the interstate. But it's so big and serene and wonderful! 

We started out at the floating trails, which both of us thought were going to be way more expansive than they were. Nevertheless, they were a thing we'd not seen before:

There are 14 miles of trails, but we could only do about half of them. One of the main ones we could have done was closed, and some others were a bit too wet for us. (The maps actually tell you what kind of shoes you need to wear for each trail. We had on our tall hiking shoes, but for some you really needed proper water boots.) Even so, we saw some beautiful things, and Ryan was super excited to use his bug and plant identifying app. We learned about that app last summer when we were hiking in Not-Hocking-Hills-State-Park and encountered a family learning together through the app. They told us about the app and he downloaded it. 

We were heading into a wooded area when...YOU GUYS!!!!! We saw a deer!! I about lost my ever loving mind. I am so ridiculous about deer. I love them so so much. More than anyone should. I was absolutely giddy and declared this another perfect gift for the day. 

She ran through the woods and into this little field for a snack, but she stayed for several minutes. I tried not to squeal and just took a bunch of pictures.

And then we got back on the path. :) 

Check out how close we were to the interstate! :) 

Ryan somehow saw this miniscule turtle and we had to get some pictures of him. He was so cute!

(He's not touching him there...I just had him put his finger next to him to show how tiny the turtle was!

And then, you guys!!!! I saw another deer! Or maybe it was the same one again and she just followed us to another part of the park. I don't know. I don't even care. I lost my mind AGAIN!!!!

Here's a video of me whispering to her. (I'm hopeless.)

And just a couple more shots from the end of the day:

Why yes, that is a train behind me. :) 

And on the way home? Free coffee!

Had the best kind of day!! :)