Second Honeymoon

Randall and I had a long argument discussion about what we should do for our 10th anniversary.  We wanted to do something AMAZING since it's a big anniversary, so we discussed several options.  Randall's been wanting to do a road trip to Oregon (where he served his mission) for a long time.  I also would love to go there, but it think it sounds like a fun trip to take the kids on. I also noticed that round- trip tickets to New York were only $200, and I've always wanted to go there...

We even considered doing a repeat of our Honeymoon. On our honeymoon we stayed at the Anniversary Inn for two nights (the Hayloft room and the Swiss Family Robinson room), then we drove to California and went to Magic Mountain for the first day. We stayed on the Queen Mary the next night (Randall's favorite) then proceeded down to San Diego for a few days. I lost my temple recommend on our wedding day (found it months later in my WINTER coat pocket), but fortunately the temple worker called my bishop so that we could do a session at the San Diego temple while we were there. I'm SO GLAD it worked out, because the temple is SO BEAUTIFUL inside and out. We also explored the old mormon batallion historical sites.  We proceeded to Vegas and stayed at the Excalibur for the first night, then a hotel close to our reception the following night.  I LOVED our honeymoon, but we just went to southern California last year, and again, that's a doable trip with the kiddos...

Well, after calculating how much each trip would cost, we decided that if we're going to spend a lot of money anyway, we might as well gooooo - to Hawaii!  I spent HOURS planning out every detail of our trip.  What day we were going to Pearl Harbor, where we'd go snorkeling, what are the best restaurants on Oahu... I searched for the best possible deals on hotels and airfare, and when I was about to reserve our plane tickets I got a HORRIBLE feeling.  I seriously felt SO homesick, even though I was at home.  It was really weird, but I realized that I just CAN'T leave my babies for that long when they're this little.  The older ones I wouldn't worry about as much.  As a matter of fact, when I asked Carter where we should go,  first he said: "Someplace romantic," then he followed that up with:  "Wherever will take the LONGEST."  He was totally excited for his sleepovers.  I knew the little ones would be fine too, I just could NOT make myself buy those tickets!  I sheepishly approached Randall and told him my feelings.  At this point he just threw his hands in the air and said, "Whatever you want, honey."

I figured that 3 nights away from my kids was probably the max I could do right now, and I couldn't see going to any of the places we discussed for less than a week.  Not to mention that the main thing I want to do at this point of my life is SLEEP, and if I went someplace awesome, I'd feel guilty napping instead of going out and seeing the sights.  Therefore, I we decided a "staycation" would work best for us.  We've stayed at the Anniversary Inn and the Alaskan Inn lots of times throughout our marriage.  I LOVE them because they have huge jetted tubs, and they bring breakfast to your room in the morning. (Seriously, why don't more hotels do this?)  We decided to stay at the Anniversary Inn for 2 nights, and the Alaskan Inn for the third night.  Our actual anniversary was my favorite day of the "trip."  We did a session at the Salt Lake Temple (where we were sealed), ate lunch at the Garden, watched the Joseph Smith Movie, then stayed in the same room that we stayed in on our wedding night.  It was SO NICE to walk around the temple and remember our wedding day.  The weather was gorgeous this year, which is how I thought it would be for our wedding, but oh well...

Don't we look EXACTLY the same as we did ten 10 years ago? ;)

 

(At The Garden Restaurant.  Randall's kicking himself for not moving that chair.)

Our cabin at the Alaskan Inn. 

The next day we slept in (HOORAY!), went to a movie, had dinner at the Oaks Restaurant in Ogden Canyon, then checked into the Alaskan Inn.  I wish I would have taken some pictures at The Oaks, because we sat out on the patio by the river while we ate our dinner.  It was really beautiful, and a fun little place to go.  Our "staycation" may not have been as AMAZING as Hawaii, but it was exactly what we needed right now.  We WILL go to Hawaii someday...maybe our 15th...17th...only time will tell!