10 years

So today Tyler & I celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Last month we took a last minute trip down to So Cal as an early anniversary trip. 

I really wanted to experience Hawaii for our big 10 year trip, but it just wasn't in the cards for us to go all out this year with the move and many other expenses we had going on. Plus, everything was falling into place for us to go down to So Cal while it coincided with Tyler's work-related plans. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity!

My kind mom came out to watch the kids with just a few days notice. Aside from Shannon being sick with 102* fever, waking up screaming in the middle of the night like a newborn, and Annie calling my mom the "worst grandma ever," she claims the babysitting adventure went well. I guess when my mom nixed Annie's idea of having a sleepover in Whitney's room, Annie decided to call Gma the worst. You must've been doing something right, mom!! :) Thanks again for coming out!! They really had a blast with you!

The girls were excited to see Grandma Decker, and they spent a little too much time working on this sign for her:

I only got 2 pictures from my mom while we were gone.
1) Cooking "Pick Pockets" with Whitney:

(cooking together is definitely one of Whitney's LOVE languages!!)

and 2) going to the yogurt shop:

We sure missed everyone while we were gone!! But we can't deny that we had a great time vacationing alone! :/ It was our 3rd time taking a trip without the kids and our longest trip by far!

If we had to have a mission statement for this vacation, it would have been:

Enjoy the things that we don't normally get to enjoy in Southern California with 4 kids in tow.

So that's what we did! Here are 6 of the highlights from our week together:

1) Redondo Beach

We ate at a restaurant right on the wharf with a gift card that I've been carrying around in my purse for almost 3 years!!!

We moseyed along the wharf looking at the shops...

 

and we drove down the coast and stopped to watch the sunset.

2) San Diego
We ate breakfast at a restaurant in La Jolla that overlooked the beach.

We also took a bike & kayaking tour of San Diego. We were told the combo trip would be 2 hours. BUT... the bike trip ended up being 3 hours, and the kayaking trip was 2+ hours! Still fun though!

We saw this home with the Wizard of Oz theme...

and then we went down to this cove that looks like a face:

There isn't normally nostril-looking things in that cave--2 birds happened to be perched right on the "nose" of that outline when I took the picture. ha ha

See the kayaking people in the pic? Pretend that's us b/c we were kayaking right there a couple hours later... we unfortunately didn't bring our camera with us on the kayaking trip b/c we were nervous it could get ruined. I wish we could have gotten shots of the California state fish--Garibaldi--and the leopard sharks we saw as we kayaked along.

3) Catalina Island

Neither Tyler nor I had been to Catalina Island before, and we knew we had to check that off our So Cal bucket list. So we took a day trip out there and went snorkeling...

...with a washed up dead seal. Can you see him in the water? It was so sad and disgusting. The snorkeling was cool though once you got past the seal carnage.

We tried to parasail, but the weather ended up not cooperating with us during our scheduled hour. :( We shopped along the beach instead and spent time reading books by the shore.

HEAVEN.

4) Getty Villa

Since we took the kids to the Getty Museum in L.A in June, we decided to see the Getty Villa in Malibu on our own. 

Tyler liked this botanical pond right as we entered, and he asked me to stand by it while he took my picture. Unfortunately he made the mistake of handing me the camera after he was done. 

I was FLOORED by the architecture and detail at this place. I felt like I had to stop and stare or take a picture at everything as I walked by! This is the ceiling as you enter the main gallery:

And this is Tyler saying, "Come on... keep it moving lady!!"

But seriously, look at the tiles on the floor!! Isn't that a replica of a famous painting?

Perfectly manicured gardens as you stroll through their galleries.

This is just one of many rooms we entered at the Villa. The details in each room were stunning!!

 Another ceiling with too many details!

This is a floor--over 4,000 individually cut pieces. Look at how they get bigger as you extend from the circle.

We enjoyed lunch there while trying to figure out our i-touch things and learning more about the Villa.

We enjoyed another garden

 And pondered on this statue that Tyler swears looks like Micheal Jackson.

5) Hollywood

After a lovely day at the Getty Villa, we headed over to Hollywood. As we were walking down the street, we saw Michael Jackson himself!!!

 We enjoyed our first Cirque show, and Wow--What an amazing performance!!

6) Reagan Library

The next day we took a trip over to see the Reagan Library. I got a family pass when we lived near there, but Tyler never had the opportunity to see the museum while we lived in So Cal. I was really glad we took the time to visit. Such an inspiring place.

 Afterward, we went to Tyler's favorite restaurant... Cheesecake Factory!

Back at the airport we had quite a long wait, so to pass the time we played Phase 10,

ate candy,

and played M.A.S.H. till my sides were hurting from laughing so hard.

According to Tyler, my fortune above says I will live in a Hut (when I played it as a kid, "H" stood for House, but Tyler insists it's "hut"--whatever) with 8 kids, drive a Hummer, and work hard in my career as an escort. Phew... I'm so glad my MASH fortune didn't have my career be a Jelly Belly taste-tester for the Harry Potter flavors.

Ah! Definitely a great trip! We stayed within our budget, got to see new places, and got to enjoy some quiet time together. Full success!! Happy 10 years!!