An Anniversary to Remember

Warning: This is a long post with tons of photos, I will not apologize as it is our family blog, but I just thought I would throw that disclaimer out there :)

We couldn't have imagined or planned to make our anniversary more magical. We weren't really trying to make it the epic outing that it turned our to be but it just happened. It all fell together back in January when I saw a Groupon for the perfect little romantic hotel, the kind with a fire place and a huge jacuzzi tub looking out to the ocean. We have wanted to do something like that for years, So I asked my mom if she would be willing to take the boys over night. When my mom mentioned that we could go away for a long weekend we decided to add another night to our stay on our actual anniversary only at a different hotel since the first one wasn't available on that day. And then shortly before our getaway, my mom kindly offered to take the boys one day earlier because she was in town and could take them home with her. Wow...So my mom volunteered for 3 nights with my boys so Max and I could have an excellent vacation just the two of us.

So this is how it went, Friday night my mom and Don came to pick up our boys right at bedtime. They left and Max and I were tempted to just clean the house and watch it stay clean for more than an hour but we decided to leave the house because we could. We tried to go to some furniture stores but for some reason, they all close early. We weren't sure what to do with ourselves as we are never out of the house after 9 pm. We ended up at Marshall's where I got a dress on clearance. Win! We wandered around the store looking at everything. When Marshall's closed we wanted to try to go somewhere else and it seemed that Fred Meyer was the only place open. We tried on clothes and wandered around and then ended up buying a diaper bag...pretty ironic since we were so excited to leave the house without one.

We eventually went home turned on music semi loud and danced until we decided to go to bed.

Saturday Morning (Our actual anniversary)

We got out of bed after 9 am. It felt great! We then went for a run around our neighborhood that ended up being three miles, pretty great for two people that haven't done much running in awhile.
We came back and made a delicious breakfast together.

We then showered and worked on packing and cleaning out the garage to make room for our new furnace that was going to be installed the morning after we got back from our vacation.

We then headed out on our slow journey to the beach. We stopped at the mall mostly so I could get new bras at Victoria Secret. I think that is an appropriate thing to do after you finish dedicating your boobs to your baby for a year.

After the Mall we went to get Jamba Juice (something we did on our wedding day) and then to Old Navy. We had been saving up to do some clothes shopping for awhile but it is kind of hard to do with kids. Max ended up getting a bunch of clothes and I decided to get some Jewelry which is rare for me!

When we were done there, it was dinnertime so we ate out at 5 guys then really went to the beach.

We got to our hotel around 9 pm just in time to go swimming before the pool closed at 10, we dropped off our bags and got to the pool just as a bunch of families were arriving. WE were the crazy adults trying to swim laps while all the kids were playing, we got to go in the hot tub and sauna then called it a night and went back to our hotel room.

Sunday Morning

I realized that I cant sleep-in anymore so I was up before 8 am and decided to do my hair. Another rare treat. Once Max was up we went to eat breakfast at the hotel then head to church. It was fun to find out that we went to my cousin Brittany's ward. It was fun to see her and her family.

After church we went to explore Cape Meares State Park. We got lost for a bit and ended up standing and taking pictures on rocks next to these fiery bushes and Tillamook Bay, not a bad place to get lost.

We eventually found our way to the Park and set off exploring. For months I've wanted to somehow get an amazing hammock picture with the beach in the background. We also just wanted to enjoy the hammock on the beach. I wasn't sure how this would happen because usually there aren't trees to hang up a hammock when you go to the beach. I thought maybe if we went to explore this state park with beach views  there would be an ever slight chance we could find this perfect hammock spot. We explored the ocean views and lighthouse, and even watched for whales all while keeping an eye out for the perfect hammock spot but it was looking doubtful with all the cliffs safely fenced off.
 We were still enjoying ourselves and the beauty that was all around us.
We were greeted by this mangy deer.

We kind of had a lot of fun using my new remote control for my camera. We were able to get photos of us together on our getaway,

After checking out the massive cliffs and ocean, we made our way down to the lighthouse. We were lucky that they were currently doing tours.

So it's a decommissioned light house because boats all use GPS but the lighthouse has never been more popular for tourists. Pretty interesting.

See it says anniversary...haha

So, on our hike (walk) back from the lighthouse we still kept our eye out for the perfect hammock spot, we found one that would maybe suffice but would not give us the best ocean views. We decided to try so we continued to our car to get the hammock.

When we were at our car we saw that it was just a short walk to check out the Octopus tree so we decided to go see that first.  

Pretty impressive. We were a little bummed that we couldn't go climb it. we were feeling young and carefree!

 Then Max said we should hike just a little beyond to see the views and there it was..the perfect hammock spot! Both Max and I felt completely rejuvenated in our pursuit and traveled quickly back to the car to get our hammock! We decided this was our anniversary art project ( 2 years ago we made a sand castle, just something fun to do together that we don't usually get to do in our day-to day routines) I'm glad that Max was just as excited about this project as I was.

We may have had to jump a little fence and we may have scared away some pot-smoking kids, but we were going to enjoy our hammock spot!

Max started setting up the hammock and I set up the camera.

 Seriously, the most beautiful hammock set up we've ever done!
Mini back story: the hammock is an important part of our relationship as it was where we spent our first moments of our relationship hours after I was released from being a missionary. So here are a whole lot of hammock pictures that I will not apologize for.

 

We spent a good amount of time enjoying our ocean view from our hammock and we would recommend this spot to anyone! 

   We eventually decided to pack up and head to our next romantic location. We picked up some food to eat on our way because we were so excited to check in to the Starfish Manor Oceanfront hotel. And it exceeded all our expectations. Thank you Groupon!

More ocean views for us. 

 Rose petals, chocolates and robes!

We didn't waste time and enjoyed watching the sunset form the jacuzzi tub, We loved our stay there and have intentions of going back someday.  

The next morning we got to sleep in, After a slow morning we decided to finally go play on the beach.

It was great going on a Monday morning. It was pretty secluded and the tide had washed in millions of these blue things. It was beautiful!

And then we took more selfies, they didn't turn out super clear, there's only so much you can do with a remote, but we were excited to have photos of just the two of us. 

And why not jump off rocks?

And I was kind of obsessed with this scenery...so there are a lot of photos of this beautiful husband of mine. 

  

Sand writing....Max did the date...

We then decided to go get some lunch, just as we pulled in to the Wildflower Grill, we realized we should call to see when Captain Dan's Pirate Pastry Shop closed. We have tried 3 times to go to this little shop because it had great reviews online but it was closed every time. We were so glad we called because they were closing early again but we had enough time to get there. It is just a little store owned by a husband and wife. We decided to go to the Pirate pastry shop first. 4th time is a charm because it was finally open.!

We picked out pastries for us and some to bring back to our kids and Grandma Sharolee and Grandpa Don.

It was a fun store and it always feels good to support someone's family business.

We then made our way back to the Wildflower Grill for some lunch. We heard raving reviews about this place too.

We got to sit in an indoor patio with a view of a pond.

We each had a cup of clam chowder and a sandwich.

Max's sandwich was pretty intense but tasted amazing!

And this is what happens when someone else takes your photo...but hey, here we are in the restaurant.

We then started our nearly 3 hour drive to pick up our boys after a refreshing and magical weekend.  We enjoyed some great conversation and enjoyed our pirate pastries.
We got this Nemo Cookie for Charlie.


Blueberry cream cheese turnover...it was amazing!

 When we got to my mom's house, our boys were happy and healthy. Charlie didn't want to leave Grandma's house and it turns out that Miles did great with grandma. He mostly slept through the night and he didn't seem to miss me too much. I was the most worried about him since he is more clingy. It just confirms that vacations without kids are possible and necessary, and I'm so grateful to my mom and Don for taking them for 3 whole nights. I know the boys and Max and I had a ton of fun! I know my grandma and Don were exhausted. We were happy to be reunited as a family.

And that was our epic anniversary getaway. I don't think we can top it for awhile, I don't even think we should try. It was just too magical!I love my family and my marriage and that we had the opportunity to have such a wonderful vacation.