Just Us!

Around the middle of last week a thought popped into my head. Wouldn't it be nice if my Hubby and I go on a tiny getaway with just the two of us? I called my sister Yvonne and asked her if she would be willing to take care of our girls while we went away for just one day. I was so excited when she said yes, and even more excited when she said she could watch the girls on that Friday! I wasn't expecting for her to be available so soon, but she had just finished summer school and had no plans for the weekend! So, my Hubby and I got ourselves together and figured out a place that we could go that was nearby home but still far enough away to be considered a real trip. It was our first trip away from our girls EVER!

We decided on going to Carmel. It's a small coastal town about three hours north of here. We stayed at an Embassy Suites (so nice!) in a nearby town called Seaside. Here's the one and only picture I have of us from our weekend. My Hubby hates having his picture taken but I insisted that we needed at least ONE picture of us together. I guilted him into letting me take this one of us as I mentioned that my blog friends probably already secretly suspect that I'm a single mom trying to pretend that she's married! :) He doesn't even know I'm posting this one here, so shhh don't tell him, okay?


Here's a pic of the view from the balcony of our hotel room.


Although my original plan was to use this little trip to enjoy a relaxing day away, it really turned out to be more of a rush to take in the sights. I even tried to sleep in on Saturday morning, but my internal clock had me waking up at the time I'd normally wake up with the girls! After we got ready for the day, we decided to go on a scenic drive through the gated community of Pebble Beach, called 17 Mile Drive. We ended up paying $10 just to see some mansions and golf courses along the coast. At the end of the drive, I wasn't all that impressed. Maybe it's because I already live in one of the best areas of California as it is! Here's a picture from our drive in Pebble Beach. It was super overcast and really cold that morning.


After the 17 Mile Drive, we decided to go to the town of Carmel. It's a quaint little town that has street names, but no street numbers. There are a ton of neat little shops to see, but it is definitely a tourist trap. They even had some high end shops there like Coach and Tiffany and Co. I was amazed to see so many tourists there and several people speaking foreign languages.


I wasn't able to take a ton of pictures of the town, but I really liked this little hotel because of it's serene little courtyard. On both sides of the courtyard, were the rooms that you could stay in.

Well, our day seemed to fly by and before we knew it, it was time to come home. The girls did beautifully and Audrey, who I was really worried about being away from, did awesome. She did not fuss, not even once, while we were gone!

After my nice little break with just me and my Hubby, here's what I learned...

1.) It's okay to get away and take some time to be without my kids sometimes. Surprisingly enough, they can survive without me!

2.) It's so much easier to enjoy your trip when you have someone back home that you trust that will take care of your kids. (Thank you so much Yvonne for doing that for us! I love you!)

3.) It's nice to be able to have the opportunity to remember what it was like before we became Mommy and Daddy! Before we had kids, I really don't thing I took the time to really appreciate our "us time."

4) One day is just not enough to take in the sights and relax at the same time!

and last but not least...

5) There's no place like home! Seriously! After this trip, I finally realized just how blessed we are to live in this part of California!