happy birthday, love

This past Saturday was Michael's birthday. I was so excited to celebrate the day my love was born. A few weeks before, I started planning a whole day trip for us. I thought of a lot of things for us to do, but nothing was quite right. I wanted it to be extra special, something that he would really enjoy.

Then I thought, Hey... Michael loves riding bikes and being outdoors. So I did a ton of googling.... and found a state park in Maryland that has 12 miles of scenic bike trails and a beautiful 60 acre lake. Score.

I took breakfast to a very sleepy Michael that morning. After opening his first birthday present, eating breakfast and snuggling... I surprised him with the bike rack sitting proudly on the back of my car. We got his bike and hit the road. He had no clue where we were going, it was so awesome. I put the address in Gladys (Yes, I named my GPS) and let her guide us.

When we arrived at the park, we were both surprised by how beautiful it was. Neither of us had been there, and were glad to have discovered it. Delaware people, this is only about 40 minutes away. Go there.

The bike trails were incredible. The path was mostly dirt, with fall leaves in rich colors dusting the ground. The trees were TALL.

Can you imagine what it smelled like when I took this picture? It was so fresh and clean. It smelled like wet dirt and fresh cut grass and campfires. Lovely.

It was a winding path through the woods, over hills and bridges. Yes, I rode my bike over that bridge and up all those tree roots on the other side. Yes, it will a little upsetting. Michael loved it though.

Happy faces.

True story: shortly after this photo was taken, a big bearded man wearing a bright orange vest and wandering through the woods on our trail, asked us if we had any coffee. A strange man looking for coffee in the middle of a huge woods. So random. We rode away pretty fast.

After our bike adventures, we went back to the lake to have lunch.

I packed turkey wraps, fruit, yogurt and water. Plus awesome Happy Birthday napkins. (Mom, thanks for your help with this! He loved it.)

We sat on a small dock for our picnic. Michael also opened his second birthday present from me, an incredible book: On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography. I know he will love reading through it to learn more about his favorite hobby.

I love our awesome camera bags in this picture. We are so legit.

It was such a wonderful moment, sitting close to the water and being there with each other. So relaxing. Everything around us was beautiful.

After lunch, we walked around the lake taking pictures. I love that Michael and I both love photography. It's something we share and enjoy doing together. We can talk for hours about technique, camera equipment, ideas for photo shoots... I have learned so much from his technical expertise.

We found people fly fishing on this awesome mini-waterfall. They could stand there because there was a ledge in a half-moon shape going out into the lake.

We both said it would be fun to come back in the summertime, when we can walk across the ledge in our bare feet. I really like that idea.

I love this picture of my man. He is so handsome.

And look at those pretty fall trees and blue water. Amazing.

The sky was incredible that day. Everything was incredible that day.

We shared a lot of lovey-dovey moments that I won't gross you out with. One I will share: there was a moment when he hugged me for a long time, then looked me in the eyes and said, "Honey. This is beautiful. Thank you so much for this day."

You are so welcome. I love you, M. Always will.