five years

the end of may aaron & i celebrated our 5th anniversary. (yes, this time of year is celebration time for our family with sadie's b-day, our anniversary & aaron's b-day all within weeks of each other). we were able to get away, just the two of us, overnight for the first time since our 1st anniversary. crazy, but true. it was a simple little getaway. we didn't even go too far from home. but, it was absolutely fabulous...dare i say perfect.

our first stop...the newport beach temple. gorgeous. we felt like newlyweds.

next it was off to the quaint bed & breakfast. it was literally on the boardwalk. we had no idea it was that close to the sand. ah....heaven. we got another little surprise when we entered our room. the bathroom window had a view of the ocean. beautiful.

it was a gorgeous day outside. so, we headed down to the lobby to check-out the beach cruisers & go explore along the boardwalk/baloba peninsula. i instantly fell in love with "my bike". check out how adorable it is. i seriously want one for christmas.

we ended up riding around for 4 hours...yes FOUR hours of bliss. aaron loved that i had a smile on my face the whole time.

here is the only picture we took of the two of us the whole weekend. (the truth is we forgot the camera at home. so, the phone camera had to do. good things it's pretty good).

the waves were huge that day....quite possibly the biggest waves i've ever seen in person.

we joined a large crowd to watch some crazy body surfers tackle the waves at "the wedge".

we drooled over the fabulous beach cottages, enjoyed some tasty nachos & "guac" on the pier, and made it back to the hotel just in time to watch the sunset from the upstairs lobby.

we freshened up and headed to an amazing italian dinner at villa nova at 9pm. (can't remember the last time we've eaten dinner that late). we took our time...not to be rushed by tired girls or schedules to keep. we went all out with the food...ordering an appetizer, salad, and two entrees. a big splurge for us. :) we headed back to the hotel and grabbed some gelato on the boardwalk. 

day two started off with a 7 mile run around town. (aaron was thrilled to have a break from pushing the double jogger carrying 50lbs. worth of girls!).  once we were all cleaned up we hoped on the ferry to balboa island.

once on the island we did what we do best on vacation....explore! for hours we walked around & talked. once again, what a nice change of pace to not be on any sort of schedule. we could take our time moving as fast or slow as we pleased.

lunch was had at one of our favorite places to grab a bit to each...cafe rio. then we took our time driving home along highway 101....stopping to explore neighborhoods and beach cities along the way. corona del mar was quite spectacular. check out the view of the backside of "the wedge".

we arrived home to two happy girls. THANK YOU mom & dad!! we were refreshed, relaxed, and ready to tackle the next adventure ahead. getting away just the two of us was much needed & worked wonders for really reconnecting. i highly recommend it.  we hope to do it again...and this time before another four years pass! ;)