Oh the weather outside is...weather

For some reason, Taylor's buddy Cheddar kept singing this all weekend long. It made me chuckle every time he sang it. "Oh the weather outside is...weather." 

We spent the weekend up at Swift Lake for our friend Mike's annual birthday getaway. This is my second year of attending, but Taylor's been celebrating Mike's birthday at some sort of cabin for several years. The stories are epic. And sometimes embarrassing. OK. MOST of the time embarrassing.  

This year, the mood was a bit tamer as Mike was a smidge under the weather, and the crew included two pregnant ladies, Mike's wife Kathleen, and my nearest and dearest Allison. The rest of us (Taylor, me, Kat's bro Bobby, their bro-in-law Shon, Al's hubby Andy, and the aforementioned Cheddar) tried to hold down the fort while indulging in holiday bevvies and plenty of merriment. 

We took Ranger rides (please don't call it a Rhino!) around the property and down to the lake for happy hour, ventured out for a little excursion to find snow (only to return to the cabin and find plenty of snow falling there, too), stayed warm by the bonfire, barbecued brats, sang happy birthday to the guest of honor, and lounged around catching up with a fun group of friends.  

It'll be interesting to see if the birthday weekend continues its traditional run now that the Greenbergs will have a baby boy in the mix. They swear we will be back next year, and we're certainly crossing our fingers for more wintry memories in December 2013. 

Man and dog.

Look closely and note Bear's special shoes for the trails. He's the most spoiled dog ever, but we love him. 

The view from the deck of the cabin pre-snow.

On a hunt to find some waterfalls. 

Found!

Oh you should have seen Taylor. Jonse-ing for his fly rod.

Next, we drove to higher elevation to find some snow.
Take One on the couples photo.

Take Two.

We had some trouble with the sideways snow flying in our eyes.

View from the deck post-snow.

Saying our goodbyes. Wish I had a better shot of the whole gang.

We stopped on the side of the rod en route home to watch a herd of elk. They were bugling. It was pretty unreal.