August 8th was the big #4. I can't believe we have already been married for four years! It seems like Danny and I have been a couple forever, but it seems like our wedding day was not long ago. I think the last year or so has gone by especially quickly. It seems more like six months ago that we found out I was pregnant with Max, when really it's been over a year! It's amazing how time flies when you're spending it with someone you love.
Danny and I aren't big on anniversary gifts. We prefer to have more of an "experience" together, meaning we usually try to go somewhere or do something together. This year, the day before the big day, I was feeling so sad because it was almost our anniversary and we didn't even have a babysitter, let alone something fun planned. So, Danny being the fabulous husband that he is, convinced our friends Darren and Jody to take Max so we could go to Park City FOR THE NIGHT. That's right, we spent the night away from Max for the first time! Let me tell ya, it was much needed. Not that I needed to get away from Max in particular, but we were in desperate need of some one on one time together. We have been SO BUSY lately with moving and getting the office going, it seems like we have no time together as a couple. To make things worse, Danny and I really never fight, but we have noticed every time we move, we get really snippy and pick arguments over silly things. I don't know why, but moving brings out the sharp tongue in us both. Anyway, we thought the night in Park City would be exactly the right thing for us right now.
We dropped Max off and the Riggs at about 6:30 Wednesday night with lots of extra clothes and milk. Leaving Max was hard, but I must say I did pretty well. No tears or anything. We knew he would be in good hands with Darren, Jody and Hadley though. I was a little concerned with the fact that he STILL had not pooped. I had tried the prunes, water (he wanted nothing to do with it), everything short of an enema. But he didn't show any signs of discomfort, so we said see ya lata and hoped for the best.
We got to Park City and checked into the Marriott Mountainside, which is a really beautiful and
fun place to stay. The pictures speak for themselves (these were
obviously taken from online in the winter-
haha!) as far as beauty, but there are alpine slides,
zip lines and a fun shopping area to walk around right outside the hotel. The pool is really pretty too!
We went to dinner at Lespri, this super fancy frenchie steak house downtown. It was super nice and SUPER expensive, but our food was only pretty good I'm afraid. Danny loved his, but I wouldn't recommend it for the price, I don't think. But it really didn't matter! It was so great to be at a nice restaurant with my husband and not have to nurse a baby in the middle of dinner (which sadly happens more often than not when we go out).
the happy couple
the beautiful
restaurant
Danny asked me what my favorite day was with him since we have been married. Danny and I have done a million different cool things together in the last four years, but the first thing that came to my mind was boogie boarding at Salt Creek Beach with him the evening I told him I was pregnant. It was such a fun, special day and I felt so close to him and so excited to be pregnant. We went down to the beach at about 5:30 and the weather was absolutely perfect. I love the beach in the evening! We love boogie boarding together and I remember thinking that I better appreciate it while it lasted, because playing in the waves would be a little awkward with a great big belly.
Some of our other favorite times together were:
Going to New Orleans when we lived in Louisiana. We remembered the clackety old trolley cars we would ride from Tulane University through the picturesque Garden District of New Orleans. We would always ride to the end of the line- Canal Street, and explore the city from there. We loved it there, eating begneits (sp?) from Cafe du Monde, almost always breathing in a little powdered sugar and getting it all over the place, walking through the shops and people watching. New Orleans is a GREAT place for people watchers! We talked about when we were able to go with Darren and Jody, how fun it was to go with friends. We feel truly blessed to have known the city before it was destroyed by hurricane Katrina. We moved a couple months before it hit, and our friends there say it will never be the same, despite reconstruction efforts.
Our honeymoon (for obvious reasons!) and experiencing Cabo together. It is such a beautiful place and stayed at the coolest resort ever. We were even able to visit part of Danny's mission for a day, which was sooo cool, even if our car's a/c broke down on the way there... in August. Yea. It was bad.
Visiting Peru. It was such an amazing trip for many reasons. We really felt like we helped the orphans there and accomplished a lot in building the green houses and orphanage. We especially loved working with the children themselves and the days we helped the dentist clean the local kids teeth. We also spent the night with a native jungle tribe and had our face and bodies painted with this stuff that lasted for like a week! I had to use beach to get it off when we came home. We were also able to stay in a beautiful hut in a nature reserve in the amazon jungle and see a lot of the wild life. We really loved playing with the monkeys, hunting piranha, and catching a crocodile while we were there. Catching the croc was the coolest, SCARIEST thing ever. It was just a little one, but we caught it with our hands while we were in a canoe at night. After we brought it back to the barge, we all held it and then released it back into the water. It was SO crazy.
Going to Europe with my mom and Dad was a major highlight in our married relationship. I was four moths pregnant and it was pretty much our last shabang before the baby. We were able to go to Denmark, where my Dad served his mission, Paris, Milan, Nice, and the French and Italian Riviera. Each place was so beautiful and unique, with so much history. Danny's favorite was Copenhagen, Denmark, and mine would be a toss up between that and Paris, which was just breathtaking. We ate like pigs every day and walked so much that no one gained a single pound in two weeks, not even me! I will always laugh about getting lost in Paris on the way back to our hotel late at night- two nights in a row! I was getting soooo mad at everyone and they couldn't help laughing at the psycho pregnant girl freaking out in the streets of Paris.
Spending time in Sand Point is always fun for us. We love the little town, the house, and especially the lake and all the crazy friends and family that are always around. It's the best free getaway ever!
So anyway, in the middle of our romantic conversation while waiting for our food, we got a call back from Darren (we had called a few minutes earlier). Max was freaking out! He was so tired and would not go to sleep. We felt so bad and were so worried- more about poor Darren (Jody was at work) than about Max! We recommended a drive- a great trick for babysitters at a last resort. Thankfully, by the time we got off the phone, Max was asleep. Phew!
We didn't leave the restaurant until probably 10:30 and we went back to the hotel . =) Bliss. No baby, lovely sleep... etc.
The next day, we went out to breakfast and then hit the hot tub and pool. It was a little early, and still a little brisk, but still fun and I loved the hot tub. We didn't stay long, because we had plans.
First, we stopped to take pictures of this beautiful barn that is practically famous in Park City. My parents have a painting of it by Cody Comrie that is amazing. Anyway, I am taking some scenery/architecture type photos for the office and we thought this would be a good subject. This one is my favorite, but I'm not totally sure the flag will remain in color for the blow up.
We then of course had to hit the outlets. Danny got a bunch of stuff at the callaway outlet, I got some new cropped pants at Banana and a pair of shoes at Gap. Even Max got an anniversary present: some baby gap onesies and a gymboree cowboy hat.
Yay! Then we went to pick up Max, who we missed a ton. He was really good the second day, they said he hardly cried at all. Hadley didn't get too jealous the second day either. The first day, she wanted a bottle when Max wanted one, and whoever was holding Max was the person she wanted to hold her too. So funny! Thanks Riggs Fam for watching the little guy.
We ran a few errands and then went home, took Max out of the car seat, and realized Max had finally felt the effects of the prunes. He had probably the worst blowout in history. It was in his armpits. Danny was dry heaving it was so bad! I used t.p. to start scraping it off of him, then we put him in the sink and hosed him of with the removable nozzle, WITH his onesie on, and then again without it on, and then gave him two baths. The water was too gross the first go around. It was so sick and so hilarious! I was literally nauseated after it was all over. We were so happy to be home with our little Maxter, no matter how stinky. Thanks to all my blog friends for your great suggestions! They were very helpful!
Daddy and Max (who is wearing my favorite pajamas!) all clean and ready for bed.
In my shoes
"playing"
the little rugrats
