Anniversary Surprise

Justin and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on August 9th.  (How can it be 8 years already?!?)  He totally outdid himself this year with an amazing surprise for me.  Here's how it all went down...

He told me he had arranged for our friends to watch the kids while we went out to dinner.  We dropped them off and headed downtown.  We had a delish meal at Hearth.  While at dinner, I told him about how much I think the two of us need a getaway from our sweet kiddos soon... something fun and romantic.. and just the two of us.  Earlier that day I had actually gone online and looked at bed and breakfasts in Galena.  We went there for our 1st anniversary and I kept thinking about how fun that would be to go there again.  Little did I know Justin already had a surprise getaway planned to that very place!!!  So, we are talking about that and I'm telling him how fun it would be to go there. 

He agrees and says, "Well, how about tomorrow?"  (This is on a Tuesday night, by the way.)
I was confused and just said, "What??"
He said, "Well, I took the rest of the week off.  (Pause) And your your parents are watching the girls. (Pause) And I booked two nights at The Steamboat House Bed and Breakfast.  We leave tomorrow morning!

I instantly started crying (why is this always my reaction??). :)  We dropped the kids off Wednesday morning and spent 48 hours with just the two of us.  A-MA-ZING!!

Because having no kids in tow allowed us to be spontaneous, we decided to stop at the Field of Dreams movie site since it was on our way.

We got to Galena in the early afternoon and strolled through some of the shops.  We had a late lunch, checked into the darling inn, enjoyed wine and cheese happy hour, and then had a super yummy dinner.

The next morning we got up at 6:30 (so much for sleeping in...) and went for a run along the river.  The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were there and the run in 55 degrees felt great!  We got ready for the day and then ate the most amazing breakfast that the innkeepers prepared for us... triple berry french toast, sausage, dark chocolate muffins, strawberries with chocolate sauce... YUMMY!

We did some more shopping and then headed a couple of miles out of town to the Galena Winery and Vineyard.  We shared some wine and toured the vineyard.
 

The handsome man who planned all of this fun! :)

After the vineyard tour, we had a romantic dinner at The Sunset Grille.  Per our innkeepers' recommendation, we called the restaurant and asked what time sunset was.  They said 8:02 so we made 7:30 reservations.  We sat on the patio, overlooking the river, and watched the sunset while we had dinner.  It was perfect.

We had another delish breakfast this morning and then headed to Grammy and Babu's house to pick up the girls.  We were happy to see them and so thankful for parents who are willing to take care of our kiddos for a few days!  Thank you, thank you!

I feel refreshed and renewed... and more thankful than ever for my hubby.  :)  Happy 8 years, babe!