Yesterday -- with it's nearly-80 degree temps and sun -- was nothing more than a treat. Grateful to have had the day off, we took full advantage of it.

I slept in and went for run outside while the girls' were in preschool, then we packed up a picnic lunch and headed for the Erie Zoo. After the zoo, we made the obligatory trip to Rita's Italian Ice (mmmm...tangerine!).

Decided to go for a hike out back when we got home. The girls grabbed their Disney Princess fishing poles to practice casting in the creek behind our house. That was a dumb idea on my part because I spent at least an hour untangling their lines and yanking their poles out of tree branches and out from under shale in the water.

When they got bored with the poles, we moved on to our usual creekside activities -- fossil hunting and throwing-big-rocks-into-the-water.

We were going to go for a bike ride, but...alas..the girls were falling-down tired -- literally. So, the husband and I let them watch a movie while we sat on the porch and enjoyed the evening.

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary. Sometimes it doesn't seem possible we could've been married that long -- sometimes it seems very real that we've been married that long.

I realized yesterday that we've been together for 18 years total -- we dated (and were engaged) for five years before we were married.

He has been there for half my life now.

It's been the better half.