An amazing 'date'.

This past Tuesday my honey and I were able to 'get away' for the day to visit an amazing Island. It's a small island off the coast. We have been there countless times before, but that was years ago, before we had kids. So my in- laws were gracious enough to watch the girls for the day so we could escape for the day together.

We took the high speed ferry early morning. The fog was so dense that you couldn't even see the ferry dock once the boat had pulled away from it. It was a little unnerving to be going SO fast through the thick fog. Every time the boat blew it's horn I knew there were other boats in it's way and inwardly cringed just waiting for us to hit! Overall it was a smooth ride, but I tend to get seasick so I insisted we sit outside, and facing forward. Towards the end my tummy was feeling a little queasy, but thankfully I made it without getting sick. Here is my 'not-so-happy-I-need-to-get-off-this-boat-face'.
When we arrived we decided to rent a JEEP for the day! It was so much fun. Bob has been wanting to purchase a jeep for a while now, so it was a good chance to try it out. It was great and we had a lot of fun.The first beach we stopped at had lots of beautiful starfish! I wanted so badly to take a couple home for the girls and let them dry out but my wise hubby thought that was kind of cruel since they were still alive. So we left them there. This beach was gorgeous, surrounded by beautiful cliffs, with white sandy beaches ... just breathtaking!OHHH, my fave ... beautiful, bright blue Hydrangeas!! {Mine STILL won't bloom!!}This beach is was gorgeous. The view from the top just takes your breath away. You have to climb down 150 stairs to get down to the beach ... no problem ... until you have to climb back UP them! Whew, I was sucking wind for sure! Awesome waves at the beach ...Bob, reading up on local history ... did you know that there are no squirrels on the Island?? =) Relaxing on the beach... {I think this is where I got too much sun, which I'm still hurting from!}YAY! A real smile from my honey! This is a rare occurrence for Mr. Braces! I just love this picture. If you can't already tell, we had SO much fun together! The old Lighthouse ... it might have a more official name, but I'm not sure, and since it's on the south shore we'll just refer to it as the south lighthouse.
Another beach, right near the ferry boat landing. Right before this I started having serious hot flashes which almost resulted in a meltdown {{I was hot, sweaty, sticky and couldn't get cool anywhere}}... thankfully hubby is very patient with me and we sat and had a cold, refreshing drink which helped me tremendously. Then we swam in those huge waves which were COLD, but invigorating. I felt much cooler after that. Bob looked down right as I snapped this photo, bummer because the wave behind him was perfect! I loved the huge waves and crystal clear water, with NO seaweed!
Then we dried off and took a stroll around downtown, stopping to pick up a couple little souvenirs for the girls and grabbing a quick bite to eat before we had to get back on the ferry.
Here is the back view of the high speed ferry. I love that catamaran style, it's so cool! It looks much smaller than it really is, it holds a few hundred people. See that tiny little outdoor area on top? That is where I had to sit, I cannot sit inside!
When we were almost back to our home port we saw TWO of our Navy's submarines out in the water. One was heading out to sea, the other heading home. It was so cool to see them up close in the water.

The next day Bob said to me, "that was one of the most fun days I have had in a long time!" I consider myself so blessed to have a hubby that I can have so much fun with. I am also so thankful for my in laws who watched the girls so we could have this time together. Can't wait to do it all again!

As a quick side note ... I think it's SO crucial in a marriage to make time for one another. No matter what stage of marriage you are in, with kids or without, you have to make time to do special things together. There have been times when our kids were young, or sick, or plans just didn't go right ... when we have had to simply stay home and play scrabble together. That's OK. Just making time for each other is what's important. My brother in law and sister in law have decided that they will try to watch as many sunsets together as they can this summer. I think that's an amazing goal! Especially for couples with kids, you have to plan times to do things without your children from time to time. It's good for you and it's great for your marriage. Anyway, that's just my two cents! =)