We celebrated our 19th on December 2nd, and I was teasing Todd a few months before that if we didn't get some time away for our 19th anniversary, we weren't going to make it to our 20th;) Life is busy and chaotic, Todd's line of work is stressful and travel intensive, and we just desperately needed to hit the refresh button. One of the perks {the only one I guess} of Todd's travel is that he gets enough frequent flyer miles that we never pay for flights! We both wanted to sneak away somewhere warm, he picked Maui because he didn't want to "waste" the tickets on a cheap flight, but with only 3 days set aside for our getaway, I didn't want to spend half the time on a plane or at the airport. So I talked him into Cali. Close by in case the Rufflings needed us, but still warm and sunny. I just needed the ocean, sunshine, good food, and sleep! Most shocking of all was that he tried to talk me into Disneyland! But I knew he needed some peace and quiet to decompress and that his body needed rest - beating the pavement at Disneyland for 14 hours and listening to screaming kids sounded a lot like home. So I talked him out of it. Yes, you read that right. So I did a little research finding a deal at a resort on Laguna beach, we locked in a great price for a room, and with free valet and a $100 dining voucher to boot! We left Spokane on a bitter cold morning after sending the big kids off to school. My mom and dad unwisely agreed to watch the kiddos, and we were off...We made it to the hotel just in time to watch the sun begin it's descent from our balcony. We grabbed the chocolates and champagne they'd sent to our room {also free!} and sat on the balcony and watched the sun go down over the Pacific. Glorious. The only plans we had for that first night was to grab dinner at their casual restaurant down at the beach. The next morning the beach was totally socked in with fog, so we took a 40 minute drive and wound up at a little old place called DISNEYLAND!!! Come on now, are you really that surprised?! I sent my mom the following text: "mom, don't let the kids look at my instagram pics..." and she instantly texted back "You brats!! Have fun!" She knew exactly where we were;) We had so much fun!! We got on all the major rides easily because it wasn't super busy, and we just took our time and tinkered around. We stayed at the main park and didn't do any shopping since we knew we couldn't bring anything home for the kids or our secret would be out! I haven't seen Disneyland at Christmas-time since I was a little girl, it was so magical and when *"real" snow*started to fall during the fireworks I actually shed a couple of tears like a complete dork! Partly because I wished the kids could be with us to see it, and partly because it was just so magical! So the next day was a total beach day. Our only plans were #1 the beach, and #2 pool side lunch, and #3 more beach. We accomplished our mission and aside from getting a veggie burger and Coke at the {amazing!} pool, we were on the beach from 9 am until we watched the sunset. We had so much fun beach combing, relaxing in our beach chairs, and our favorite part, exploring at low tide. Having the crazy, fun, playful day at Disneyland, and one full day of total relaxation at the ocean was thee perfect combo for us. We finished off the night by eating at Nick's, a recommendation from my friend Amy who had just been to Laguna a couple weeks before with her hubby. It was our favorite meal of the weekend, and the teeniest, tastiest restaurant ever! We did a bit of window shopping in the quaint down town, then it was back to the hotel to eat my to-go dessert from the restaurant in the tub, heaven! The next day it was back to reality, but I was so happy to be home. Life at home with my family really is the life.
I'll start our little photo journey on our real anniversary, a couple of days before our trip. I begged Todd to take a break from work and pick up the bigs with me so we could take them to the cute little Grange where we had our rehearsal dinner. So I stole him, we grabbed a Starbucks, and we were on our way to a trip down memory lane.
This picture of Charlie clearly explains why we were leaving in the first place;)
So apparently the Grange was sold and turned into a home! Todd was so embarrassed when I knocked on their door to ask if we could take a family picture in front. After all we'd drug all the kids here and I thought it would be so cute to compare it to a picture of us 19 years ago, and how we look now, with all these kids! But the people inside just anxiously peered out their window and never answered the door. So we quickly snuck a pic at the end of their driveway and peeled off like bandits.
Longhorn BBQ, swing dancing and lots of love and laughter filled that little Grange 19 years ago!
>>>===> And now we're off on our little adventure...
>>>===> And now we're off on our little adventure...
View from our balcony. I could get used to this!
This huge sand sculpture was in the hotel lobby, and when we got back from dinner the entry way was filled with all these shiny silver pots full of hot chocolate, coffee, big silver bowls of fresh whipped cream...So festive and yummy!
They also had these giant, amazing chocolate ornaments in another hall!
Ta da! The Happiest Place on Earth! I love how it looks like Walt Disney is waving at us like "hey guys, I recognize you!"
Pirates was closed on our last trip, so I was beyond excited to keep tradition and make this the first ride of the day!
First order of business, churro time. Lifetime churro count: 762
The man in front of me on Splash Mountain told me "I almost cried! The only person enjoying this ride is you!"
Without the kids we covered a lot of ground quickly, so I talked Todd into going on his very favorite ride;) He was even happier when we had waited in line for 30 minutes and the ride stopped because of mechanical trouble, so we waited another 20 minutes before getting on the most exhilarating ride at Disneyland. My dad always says they could make that ride fabulous by adding guns to the boat so the dolls become moving targets that blow up when shot at.
Happiest Anniversary on Earth!
We went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Naples, so I got this pic of the frozen entrance on the way back in.
The only snow Anaheim ever sees! Goodbye Magic Kingdom!
Saturday morning waffles that I didn't even have to make!
Done with breakfast, now it's down to the beach!
The hotel had a "cabana man" down at the beach, fancy! He got us beach chairs, water, and offered to take an obscene amount of pictures of us. We giggled to each other as he told us to move around in all these different poses, and had us changing directions to get different background scenery. Too funny:)
This is such a cute picture of Todd, but I have the "okay that's enough" look on my face!
Much needed R&R since he was leaving on yet another trip the morning after we arrive home.
Laura the Explorer:) Yes I'm barefoot climbing on rocks for hours. No I haven't grown up yet.
I found the cutest, tiny starfish!
Itty bitty brittle star! Everything was miniature just for me! I love tiny things...
Lunch time at the pool! Veggie burger, Coke, a good book and magazine. Heaven.
Back to the beach until the sun sets...
Downtown for dinner, the little alley ways and shops were absolutely adorable, especially all lit up for Christmas time!
Nick's for steak and fried chicken! Our table was teeny, just like the rest of the place! There were people waiting for a table about 6 inches from my elbow. But it was so worth it, great food, even better atmosphere!
I found about 30 golf balls when we were treasure hunting at low tide. But Todd won the prize for best find with this underwater diver's camera, so cool! It had the headband attached still and was totally intact. Todd had fun fiddling with it and taking the waterproof case off on the plane, there wasn't any moisture inside the case and we're hoping it works so we can use it on our next snorkeling adventure:)
Trading sunny California for snowy mountains. Love them both.
We must be close to home now...
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