Our first anniversary

Neither Kate nor I are that sentimental. While in Florence, we yawned while swimming through crowded streets filled with passionate Italian couples eating gelato and staring lustfully into each others' eyes. While in Vienna, I think we both chocked back a little vomit while trying in vain to ignore the masses of young lovers making out in the park. And today, on our one year anniversary, we could easily have slept in, watched a movie starring Hugh Grant, and drank the fruit of the vine until we reminisced romantically about the 12 busy months that have passed since we both said "I do."

But instead we went kayaking in the rain.

Well, to be honest, it wasn't raining when we started. But we probably should have taken the drizzle on the drive there as a harbinger of cats and dogs.

Speaking of dogs, Pecos came, too. This was his first kayaking experience, so we were obviously worried that he'd freak out and poop himself in the kayak. But he seemed to enjoy the trip so much that he cried out in excitement while hanging off the edge of the boat trying to catch the droplets of water falling off of the midstroke of Kate's oar.

He even got so excited that, in an effort to catch a droplet, he lept into the water, conducted the worst triple sowcow ever, and completely submerged himself before doggy paddling it toward the shore.

Adding to the unromantic nature of the trip, a passing barge lowered the level of the water enough to get us stuck on some rocks. While trying forcefully to push ourselves off, Kate didn't see the water rush back in and lift the kayak on top of the rock where her hand was. She ended up with a deep cut and an excuse not to paddle back to base camp.

While not overtly romantic, our trip had a certain excitement to it that fit our personalities very well. I can't wait to see what our next year holds....

P.S. Donations of self tanner are welcome. Kate can't read the packages to decipher how to apply the tanner and is unsure of which formulas will turn her into an oompaloompa. Obviously, the need is dire.