Anniversary Trip

Greg and I will be married for 5 years on July 30th. That seems like such a small number of years, yet I can't remember what life was like before marriage! We knew we wanted to do a little something special for our 5-year anniversary, and then it all fell into place...

Greg's work had a conference in San Diego in June. Therefore, he and I had free flights and a really nice hotel to stay in there. So, we decided to tag on an anniversary trip somewhere in California after the conference, and my parents could keep the boys. There is so much to do and see in California, that we even talked about doing an anniversary tradition where we go to a new part of the state every year...we will see!

After MUCH research, we decided on going to Santa Monica, and stay in the amazingly gorgeous, historic Hotel Casa Del Mar...apparently the only hotel in LA that is literally on the beach. We traveled from San Diego via Amtrak, which is the greatest way to travel, by the way! We found a practically empty car on the train, away from any children! ;)

Unfortunately, we just forgot to take many pictures, but we had a blast! We strolled down the streets of Santa Monica, ate at the Urth Cafe (yum!), shopped at the promenade, biked down the beach to Venice and had lunch/tea in Venice at Jin Patisserie (yum!), had a lovely dinner at Shutters, the hotel next door, relaxed at the beach and just had a great time being together. My sweet friend, Mindy, used to live in Santa Monica, so she actually sent me an itinerary of the "must-dos" of Santa Monica, which we used and loved. I can't believe I went 5 nights away from my boys, and I did miss them like crazy. But, I knew that they were having a blast with Nana and Bapa and that they were in good hands. Also, it was refreshing to spend some much-needed one-on-one time with my hubby.

Here are a few pictures that we took on our trip...(sorry that most of them are scenic...I'm not used to taking pictures when my kids aren't around!

This was the formal "XP Awards Night" for his dental conference. The entire conference was very entertaining and was put together very well. I was impressed, and I loved getting a glimpse into Greg's life at work.
This was at our hotel from our balcony, obviously, at sunset. That's the Santa Monica Pier in the distance. I miss this place...it was just gorgeous and perfect for us!
Ahhh...the beach.
We were on the only floor with the terraces where you could step out onto the big balcony with the pool. It was awesome...I read many chapters of "Desiring God" on that chair!
The pool...
More sunset pics...
Greg about to go for a swim.

The Malibu Mountains (another future anniversary trip!)
Glad I said "yes" to this man!
Our room...we said that we wished we could have picked it up and moved it into our house...it was very vintage cottage-y...just our style!
The boys went to the San Diego Zoo, Pretend City, got a mini swimming lesson from my brother, Billy, went to see Nana's friends at her "office church", made a debut trip to Chucke Cheese's (we will never be the same, now!), and just had a great time with my parents. It was a sweet sound to hear "MOMMY! MOMMY!", though, when we drove back to my parent's house.

Next post - the rest of our trip to California!