Thursday, April 8, 2010

Happy 8th Anniversary, My Young Groom!

Darren and I celebrated eight blissful years of marriage this March with a trip to Fredericksburg. When we first married we would visit once a year, but we have missed a few since our child rearing days began. Our favorite house, the Magnolia House, was booked for the weekend so we tried a new place called Serendipity. We weren't able to leave Dallas until after 5pm to start heading toward the hill country, so it was dark when we arrived the first night. But the next morning we were treated to this beautiful sight. Here is the house that belongs to the owners of Serendipity:
I couldn't get over the porch. I really wanted to swing on the swing because it's one of my favorite "country" things to do. I didn't get a picture of the back porch, but it had an amazing hammock that I really could have taken a nap in every day we were there. Our "house" was located right behind the parent house.On the lower level was the bathroom, a couch, and a TV. We watched all the March Madness games we could on that little TV.
Here's the tub/shower. They had the house decorated so uniquely. For instance, there was a table that had originally been a case to hold soldier uniforms (can't remember from which war)- it was suppose to be able to be completely sealed and be water proof. The iron gate above the tub was rescued from New Orleans just before Katrina hit. Of course they had all the pamperings that come with a bed and breakfast house- robes and slippers, yummy smelling bubble bath and salts. But I have to say that when we arrived so late at night and walked in to this lower level I was a little shocked. There were NO stairs to the upper room! I was trying to be a good sport but really couldn't imagine that we were going to have to go outside and use stairs every time we were going to go to the restroom. But we were overjoyed to find that the top floor had a little bathroom with a potty that we could use and not have to travel down stairs in the middle of the night.
Upstairs was gorgeous! I loved all the decor. They definitely went out of their way to make it very romantic.Our bed was so comfortable- almost just like the one at our own house. One night we came in from dinner to find rose petals scattered all under the covers- how fun!This adorable stove housed all the coffee fixings and popcorn. Although we don't drink coffee, I told Darren I feel like we should have just because it looked so cute on that stove!I liked all the colors that decorated the room. Every morning when we woke up I just felt happy. Of course that could have been from the good night's sleep we were blessed with. I haven't slept through the night in over 8 months so it was about time. We never actually had breakfast in our room, but they did provide what looked like a yummy breakfast cake sort of thing. We ate every breakfast at the Java Ranch because they had THE BEST fruit shakes. We totally got addicted to them (until I watched them make one the last day and found out it didn't even have real fruit in it but was only a mixture of fruit juice and ice- how disappointing).
I did mention that the bathroom upstairs was little and I do mean little. One night after seeing Alice in Wonderland, I couldn't help laughing every time Darren tried to brush his teeth or hair or wash his hands because he looked like a giant in such a small space. Our weekend was all about the food. We ate our way down Main Street. My favorites included a family owned pasta place called Pasta Bella (can't wait to go back). We couldn't get enough of their bread and Darren even convinced me to try calamari while we were there- which wasn't horrible but just a little on the tough side for my liking. Our "nice" dinner out was to a steak restaurant called Navajo Grill. It was fabulous!! The mashed potatoes were so creamy. Apparently they have a very well educated chef who traveled and studied the art of cooking all over Europe and then opened a place in New York before settling down in Fredericksburg. He did an amazing job- we both just about licked our plates clean. Our house parents had encouraged us to take a ride on the tandem bike since they only lived a few blocks from Main Street, but we just ran out of time. They do look like fun, though. We tried to go hike at Enchanted Rock, but after driving the beautiful hill country road all the way there, we were met at the gate by a national park guide who said they had reached maximum capacity and had to close down for a few hours. How does a national park reach maximum capacity? I have no idea. We were bummed since we couldn't stay. Darren had surprised me with a massage that I gently coaxed him to changing into a couples massage so he could relax with me and not just go back to the house to watch more basketball. It was a cute little place and really the massage was fine except I came out smelling like a pine tree while Darren came out smelling like buttery vanilla!
Before we left on Sunday, we ate ice cream at an authentic ice cream parlor which was playing the movie Grease on their TV. You just have to sing along to those songs! They had one of those BIG gum ball machines and I traded in some coins for a few quarters so we could each get a piece of gum for the road trip home. Well, Darren kept saying "I don't need one" and "It's ok, I don't have to have one" but I insisted that he did. Let me tell you- I got my red piece of gum and then he put in his quarter and got this:
Yes, that says WINNER on it. I started screaming because that would happen to him. He has the best luck. He thought maybe they have winners all the time and that it was pretty common- so he asked the waitress and the whole staff was surprised. They told us it doesn't happen very often at all. He got a coupon for a free ice cream! I couldn't believe it. There really is something special about winning, even if it is just a free ice! The whole time we were on our trip I felt like we were dreaming. How weird it felt to not have to be back home for naps or get anyone juice or snack and to stay out as late as we wanted (although we were old fogies and came home pretty much after dinner each night). We headed home Sunday afternoon and I was ready to see all the boys after being away for three days. Did I mention that we had just started potty training Elic the week before we left? My poor Papaw and Mom were so sweet to put up with him "needing" to go every five minutes and he would completely undress every time he went. I felt a little bad that two days after we got home I taught him how to go standing up- boy that made potty time a MILLION times easier- no more undressing. I'm so glad they helped us have our weekend together. We have always said that it's important to stay connected even in the chaos that is our life with three very young boys. We try to remember that it all started with the two of us and some day it will be just the two of us again. I hope we're even closer on that day than we are right now. Darren, you are my Most and I feel blessed that you chose me to be your wife. Happy 8th anniversary!

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