the Toad's birthday, fall, and hot cocoa.

It was the Toad's birthday today.  We got to party hard by heading up to Daniel's Summit with the mama and enjoying the incredible, bright fall colors.

Seriously.  Incredible.

We used to go up to Daniel's Summit every winter in our teenage years and grab a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of deep-fried mushrooms.

Which meant that we were both looking forward a mug of cocoa all week.

We even made the mama get a picture with her cocoa.

The usual picture with my cup of hot cocoa.

Satisfied.

After slowly sipping our deliciousness, we ordered three appetizers to share between us. 

1.  Deep-fried mushrooms

2.  Cheese fries

3.  Dutch oven cheese cheese pot

Oh man.  We chowed down and enjoyed every. last. bite.

And somewhere in between dipping our fries in fry sauce and breaking bread over our cheese pot, we took a few photos for memories.

Because lets be honest, the three of us don't usually get out altogether.  Although we did miss the other two missing sisters.  They're kinda important to us.

We also sat at the table closest to the fireplace possible.  It was a just a tad chilly up in the mountains and we needed some major heat.

We also had the best waitress ever.  She suggested some fabulous appetizers for us and when she heard it was the Toad's birthday and we didn't order dessert, she brought out a yummy slice of cheesecake with a candle.

Now THAT'S exactly what you want from a waitress when you tell her that it's someones birthday.

You can say she got a nice little big tip from us.

After lunch at Daniel's Summit, we took the short drive up to Strawberry Resevoir and checked to see if the Kokanee were there for the Kokanee run yet.  

I should really say that the mama left us wimps in the car while she ran to the river to see if the fish were there.  We finally bucked up when she waved us over to come see the Kokanee.

See?  Cold.

Kokanee!  I haven't seen them since I was little.  The Toad was a little perturbed when we started talking about how after Kokanee spawn, they die.

Sad day.  

But insanely beautiful fish.  

Happy birthday, Toad!  You will always be my Toady.  Always.  You're one of my best friends and thank you for always being there to talk to.  I know we talked each other ears off when we were little and I love thinking about bunk beds and storytime by Codi.  I even happily look back on the days of being dressed up in all of my winter clothes in the middle of the summer.

We had some good times and I look forward to future good times.  I hope we always stay close.

Happy day of birth!