8 wonderful years together!

On April 27th, David and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, godly husband and father to our children. I can't believe how fast 8 years has flown by. We've had so many good memories together and am looking forward to many more and growing old with him. :)

To celebrate, we took a weekend trip to Portland the Thurs to Sat before our anniversary, since it was on a Tues. It was the first time we'd gotten away just the 2 of us - since before I was pregnant with Isaiah, I think. We of course had been to Portland before, but never spent the weekend there and just explored the town. We had a cozy little suite at the Residence Marriott, which they were so nice to waive our daily parking fee (which most hotels in Ptld charge) because it was our anniversary plus it had a full service breakfast buffet - more than just pastries - eggs, sausage, waffles, fruit, etc, etc. It was SO yummy and saved us money on eating out for breakfast. If we ate just before it was over at 9:30 am, it kept us filled enough we just needed a snack instead of lunch and then an earlier dinner. Plus, from the hotel, we could hop on the Portland Streetcar and ride it free to downtown Portland, and then also get on the Max Lightrail and ride around clear to Lloyd Center if we wanted for free also. That was so nice, because its a pain to find parking in downtown, so this was a much nicer way to get around.

When we arrived on Thurs, we checked in to our hotel and got our little map that showed the route and stops for all the streetcars and lightrails, then headed out to explore a bit. I'm quite sure that people could tell we weren't from there, because of how often we looked at the map to make sure we got on/off on the right stops, plus it was worn so much from doing that too. :) The OHSU tram was about a 10 min walk from our hotel, so we thought it would be fun to go check it out and take a ride on it. It wasn't as scary as it looked from the freeway whenever I've driven under it. And it gives an awesome view of the town. After that, we headed downtown, walked around a little and then had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. YUM!! If you like wings, you'll have to try this place. Of course they have much more than wings too, but that's their specialty, along with about 14 different kinds of sauces to dip them in. And, it happened to be a Thursday, so their promo for the day was 60 cent wings, so between the 2 of us, we were able to try a variety of sauces and still have a pretty inexpensive tab. After dinner we walked around downtown a little and then headed back to the hotel. Without the kiddos it was nice to just relax and not have to worry about being back for bedtimes at any certain time.

The view from the tram

Up at OHSU over looking the town On the way back down...there are actually 2 trams that pass each other View from the tram going over the freeway
Friday we got to sleep in until about 8:30 or 9, which may not sound too late, but it was longer than we ever get to at home. :) We got up, went to breakfast, then came back to get ready. Then we headed up to the north part of Portland to go see Pittock Mansion. To get to the mansion, we had to drive, but that was the only time that weekend we had to. I had heard of it before, but had never been there and David had only been around the outside. It was so beautiful inside and out, and the windows and bedrooms facing east were positioned so that they would frame Mt. Hood on a clear day. Unfortunately on the day we went, it was overcast and cloudy, so we weren't able to see it. After spending some time there, we headed back to our hotel to drop the car off, though first stopping at a grocery store to pick up a few snacks to munch on throughout the trip (the hotel's are much too expensive). After dropping off the car and having a light lunch, we hopped on the street car and headed to the Pearl District where we stopped at this amazing little cupcake shop, Cupcake Jones. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the ones we ate, but they were the most delicious I've ever had. So much in fact, that we went back the next day and had a mini one and brought some minis home with us too. :)

Pittock Mansion - a BEAUTIFUL home!!

The back of the mansion

View from the backyard

From there we headed to Powell's Books, where I was just having a ball looking at all the books. I've never seen such a HUGE bookstore. David, unfortunately, was a little bored so I decided not to torture him too much and stay forever, since reading isn't his most favorite pastime. I did pick up a few books, used, at a good deal and look forward to reading them. After Powell's we strolled around downtown some more, taking in more sights and sounds, then headed over for dinner at the Macaroni Grill. Then we hopped on the light rail and took it over the river to Lloyd Center for a while, which also was the end of the "free ride zone." When we headed back on the light rail to downtown and then the hotel, it was about 9 pm, and let's just say that I would never be brave enough to ride that alone, especially at night. But I supposed people just get used to it and have their guards up and do it.

The street car we would catch by our hotel
Waiting for my "ride"

At Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Saturday, our last day there, we had the yummy hotel breakfast again, then headed up to the Saturday Market. More fun people watching. :) We didn't stay too long because it was rainy, so then headed to lunch at Mother's Bistro. If you've never been there, you MUST try it sometime. It is good home cooking and all from scratch! And at reasonable prices too! Then, it was time to head home to get the kiddos, so we headed back to the hotel to get the car and home to Salem. It was so nice to get away, just the 2 of us, which is hard to find time to do. But oh so important for a marriage. Thank you David for 8 wonderful years and to many more!!! I love you!!