Anniversary Weekend Getaway

On July 15th, Shad and I celebrated 8 years love and marriage! In some ways it seems crazy that we've been married for that long. In other ways it seems like we've been together forever. He is indeed my best friend. We have grown together and apart more this year than any other year. Our relationship has been put through the test and some hard times these last several months. Its been a learning and growing year for our relationship, but he is my eternal companion and my love. He's the father to my beautiful babies, and the best at it. Here's to another year of us. :) 

My sweet mother volunteered to babysit a whole weekend for us so that we could sneak away together. Something that we really needed. Just time for the two of us, without worrying about the littles constantly. We decided on a little road trip together. Its amazing how much road you can cover and how much you can actually SEE in a weekend together without kids! I feel like we covered so much ground! We did the Highway 101 loop around the Washington State peninsula, and visited several stops in Olympic National Park and along the coast. It was beautiful, relaxing and wonderful! Plus we were able to fit in some things we really love: reading, taking pictures, nature, and hiking! Win! 

We started out on the road saturday afternoon and drove the beautiful drive up to Sequim, Wa. At the top of the peninsula, where we had a hotel waiting for us. The drive was gorgeous and clear. Sequim is a cute little place. We were able to find a place to have dinner after we checked in and afterwards take some beautiful sunset shots. The moon was incredible that night, it was a super moon! But I didn't have my telephoto lens to really capture it. But it was amazing. 

 The best of the moon I could get. 

 Gorgeous Sunset in Sequim. 

That night I was also able to map out the rest of our mini road trip. It was fun to have many options and kind of play it by ear with whatever we wanted to do! Kid free!!

We started out driving by Crescent Lake, at the very edge of Olympic National Park. Oh man, it was so beautiful. 

So pretty. 

One of the things that Shad and I like to do together is read books out loud. We read the whole Harry Potter series together, and a few other books. And now we are working on A Song of Ice and Fire Series (Game of Thrones). Shad has already listened to them all and somehow convinced me that I needed to read them too. I must say after being VERY resistant, I'm completely hooked! Shad has the gift to read in the car, without barfing, a gift I do not have. So I did the driving, he did the reading! Plus he is SO good at reading out loud, he does all the voices! Its great. We were able to finish book one on this trip. 

Our first stop was La Push beach. We traveled out to vampire and wolf country! Oh man, passing through Forks and La Push is hilarious! They eat up every bit of Twilight. There are tours and twilight signs EVERYWHERE. We even passed the "Treaty Line" sign on our way to La Push beach, a little ridiculous. Plus, Forks really is Podunk! 

Anyway, it really must be vampire country, because it was a spectacular, sunny, HOT day. But as soon as we would creep our way towards the beach, it was completely cloudy, windy and COLD! Five minutes out from the beach, sunny and warm. Hmmm? its crazy! 

Still beautiful and fun to walk along the beach. 

These HUGE trees and wood pieces made for such pretty scenery. 

After La Push and driving through Forks, we decided to to stop at the Hoh Rainforest. Shad has never been, and I went when I was pretty small. It was so hot and muggy! But very beautiful and oh so green! We did the quick little hike through the rainforest and saw all the sights there. Like I said, so much faster without kids! Hiking is always something we have enjoyed together. Now with kids, we certainly don't do it enough. It was fun to go together again. 

Same spot, different angle of lighting. Cool, huh!? 

 So much green! 

These trees were amazing. 

After the Rainforest we made our way along the Pacific Coast and stopped at several beaches and ocean views on the way home. The view was mostly the same: cloudy, misty, foggy, rocky, lots of trees, and beautiful. 

The clouds made the greens so vibrant and pretty. 

Even though it was cloudy and cold, the view was still so stunning. 

It was pretty entertaining watching people fish... catch... things? We were not really sure what these people were trying to catch in those nets! 

We thought about making one last stop at Lake Quinault, but decided we were too tired, and still had a couple hours 'til home. We made a quick pit stop for frozen yogurt and came home to a quiet house with the kids already in bed! (Grandma's really are the BEST!)

It was a quick little getaway! Just over 24 hours. But we covered lots of ground, saw a lot, and had so much fun just the two of us. Its so, so beautiful up there. I love living in Washington. We have so many gorgeous sights, right in our backyard! I wish we took more advantage of all the beauty here. Maybe we can make this a tradition!? :) 

On our actual anniversary, we got pretty crazy and busted out the ice cream and red box! True love, I tell ya!