Birthday Trilogy Part 2

As has been previously stated, my birthday was so spectacular this year, it couldn't be contained within one day.  I've already written about part 1.

The second part of a trilogy has a difficult task.  It doesn't get to introduce the characters.  It doesn't get to deliver the exciting conclusion.  But, it has to carry the story forward.  It has to develop the characters.  When done right, the second part can be the best part of the trilogy.  We're talking The Empire Strikes Back.  We're talking The Two Towers.  We're talking Attack of the Clones.

Wait, did I hear you correctly?  Did you just say that Attack of the Clones is not a good example of a solid second part of a trilogy?  Are you saying you didn't find Anakin's super awkward dialogue about the coarseness of sand to be incredibly romantic?  You clearly have no soul.

Regardless of how soulless you may be.  We're not here to talk about Star Wars.  (Okay, let's be honest, we're always here to talk about Star Wars.  But it's not our primary purpose, at least.)  So without further ado, here is part 2 of my birthday trilogy this year.

Day 2 of my birthday trilogy took place on Memorial Day.  Memorial Day is a very special day that comes the Monday of my birthday week every year.  For this reason I call it, "My birthday observed."

Robyn had asked me several weeks earlier what I wanted to do on my birthday observed.  I had told her that I wanted to go on a hike, but I didn't want to plan it and I wanted her to surprise me.  Naturally, she called my BFF Jared William and put him in charge of planning a hike.

I had no idea where we were going.  Robyn just told me that  I needed to be ready to leave by 8 AM.

Once we drove there it became clear where we were going.  Or, at least where we were starting.  We started at Kiwanis park at the mouth of Battle Creek Canyon in Pleasant Grove.  Where our final destination would be was still a mystery.

All I knew was that it was a beautiful day, and I was in beautiful nature with a beautiful girl.

Look at the cuteness of my hiking partner.

Jared was not nearly as cute, but he wore his banana hat which did make him fairly high on the cute meter.

Jared gave me some head ornamentation so I could be cute as well.

Look how strong she is!  I was super impressed with her hiking abilities.  She's gotten in super good shape.

A little bit of bonus preciousness.

 I've hiked Battle Creek Canyon before, back when I was ginormously fat.  But the destination was always Battle Creek Falls.  And Battle Creek Falls was pretty much as high as I could go, because by that point I was panting and crying and approaching death.  This time we got there in about 15 minutes and walked right past.  It turns out it's not that hardcore of a destination when you're not ginormous.

Don't worry, even though we just walked past it, I still took the time to make an animation of it.

 We kept hiking for another hour or so.  We crossed the river a few times, went through some forested areas and then it opened up into a huge meadow.

Our fearless leader taking us into the meadow.

The trail wound through several meadows, until it got high enough that you could look back on the valley and on the lake.  I ride past that lake on my bike several times a week, but it's not until you look at it from far above that you realize how huge it is.

Looking at my kingdom.  Everything that the light touches is Utah Valley.

Another view of the lake.

We reached a super big meadow with rolling hills and a beautiful lake view.  That's when Jared laid out a tarp for our sitting pleasure and Robyn busted out some delicious food.

Of course, my wearable camera made sure to capture the picnicking experience.

Don't you feel like you're there with me?

It's like you're the one eating the apple.

 We made sure to get some cute pictures of us in the meadow.

I'm sweaty.  She's precious.  That's how we roll.

We got a precious picture of Jared in his cape as well.  No birthday would be complete without a superhero in a cape.

It was a super fun hike, and I really enjoyed it.  It totaled about 6 miles with a 2200 foot climb.  Fat Jeff of a year ago would have cried about the idea of doing a hike like that.  New Jeff loved it.

After our return to the valley we got to go to a barbecue at my parent's house.  Since Memorial Day was actually my brother Zack's birthday, it's difficult to make the case that the barbecue was to celebrate my birthday observed.  Nevertheless, I will believe that was the purpose of the barbecue until the day I die.  Much the same way that I believe that all barbecues that occur on that day are in honor of me.

And thus we see that day 2 of my birthday trilogy was a smashing success.