It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ahh, the weather is getting warmer. The trees and flowers are blooming. I love Spring!

Usually, Summer is my favorite time of year, but I'm currently loving Spring and all it brings. Yesterday, Matt and I got out to enjoy two of my favorite things about this time of year: hiking and playoff hockey!

The first hike we ever took together in Colorado was a short, but moderately steep (at times) hike to Mallory Cave by Boulder. We've gone back a couple of times since that first hike in March of 2008 to see how far we've grown in our hiking ability (and to see if we're in better shape!). So yesterday, we headed to Mallory Cave again for our first hike of the season, and we definitely handled it a little better than we did that first day!

A couple of odd trees that we always remember as a landmark. A weird bonzai-looking tree in the middle of the trail, and an awesome twisted tree.

Trees.

Matt at the end of the hike. You can't actually get to the cave from April to October, but we still got a decent view out of it.

Boulder.

A view of the building where we started our hike... and Boulder in the background.

I always love this time of year because of playoff hockey, but my excitement obviously varies depending on whether or not my Avs are playing. Well, this year they are! Last night, Matt and I headed to the third game of round one against the San Jose Sharks (boo!).

The ice crew started dancing to Michael Jackson when they came out to clean the ice. It was funny.

Though the game was low-scoring (or no-scoring until overtime), it was an extremely exciting game. We had a blast, and even though I had homework waiting at home, we were still excited when the game when to overtime. But we didn't have to stay too late because the Avs scored 51 seconds in to overtime! It was a bizarre bounce, but we'll take it!

So excited! We won!

Our goalie made an amazing 51 saves throughout the game, so the crowd was chanting, "Andy! Andy!" all through the arena. It was very exciting.

Final score!

Yay! We won!

The Avs lead the series 2-1 now. We're excited to see where they go next!

And I'm very excited for more hiking! Yay, I love hiking and camping and shorts and flip-flops and concerts and barbeques! Yay summer!