Victoria

Jeremy and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary in July. My sweet hubby valiantly attempted to plan a secret re-creation of our honeymoon trip through Banff and Jasper National Parks in British Columbia, but I wasn't at all cooperative. He eventually spilled the beans on the "surprise trip" that just wasn't working out because of my continued insistence that I couldn't possibly leave Ascha overnight. We decided we'd postpone our trip until fall and I'd do my best to prepare both the baby and myself for a short separation. We also decided recreating our honeymoon trip would require too much time away, so we revised our plans. My mom came and stayed with the kids and we went on a three-night adventure to Victoria, B.C. We stayed at Marketa's B&B (which we highly recommend!), which is quite close to downtown. We enjoyed wandering and visiting shops (especially shops with breakables! We almost never frequent such shops now that we have 3 kids!), eating, going to the Maritime Museum, eating, driving around the Saanich Peninsula, eating, going on a zip line adventure, and eating some more. We've watched too many foodie travel shows, I think. Or maybe, we were inspired by the fact that we almost never consume a meal without interruptions (sweet, lovable, wonderful interruptions! Sheesh! Sounds like we despise parenthood. We certainly don't, but we did enjoy our brief reprieve).

My one request for our vacation was for it to include an "adventure component." We were (read: I was) thinking of renting a kayak, but even the most sunny October days seemed formidably cold for kayaking. We did manage to find adventure, though, in a zip line course which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We came home well rested and READY to be with our kids again. I am so thankful for the past 10 years and so thankful for the sweet and refreshing "just us" time we shared on this trip.