Across the Pond...: Fifteen Years In...

This weekend, John and I celebrated our fifteen year anniversary. I mean, we REALLY celebrated... without children! Our anniversary was on Thursday, and Friday morning we dropped the kids off at school and headed straight into London where we enjoyed sightseeing sans kids for 39 hours!

Before we departed, though, I gave John a little anniversary gift. I had wanted to write him a song (as I had for our wedding), but nothing had come to me over the last couple of months. Then, while he was out of town the week before our anniversary, the inspiration came. I wrote "Fifteen Years In" to commemorate our special day. Then, with the help the husband of a good friend, I was able to record it and get it onto a CD the night before our anniversary.

So, on Friday morning we departed (knowing that our kids would lovingly be cared for by the Ottos while we were away) and went straight to our fabulous hotel near Buckingham Palace. We were greeted with champagne and a lovely room with a roaring fire. We spent the afternoon shopping and eating (Burger & Lobster... yum!) before heading back to get dressed for our night out - dinner at a Michelin star restaurant and off to the theatre to see War Horse.

On Saturday, we SLEPT IN, as we were in the most amazing, comfortable bed in the world. Then we headed out into the SUNSHINE (yes, it was only a little over 50 degrees, but it was gloriously sunny) and went to take a tour of the House of Parliament. It was a perfect tourist adventure without the kiddos, followed by tea with a view of Big Ben. We strolled through St. James Park in the sun (did I mention that it was sunny?) back to our hotel where we grabbed our bags and changed for dinner out. We stopped at a Sardinian restaurant en route back to Maidenhead, where we arrived to find our children sleeping (ahhh...) peacefully at home. (Thank you to our friend Omo for taking the last shift of watching the kids at our place on Saturday evening!)

The kids had a great time. (This was Ryan's first sleepover at someone's house who was not family!) We had a wonderful time together and were able to recharge our batteries in the sun a bit. (I told you it was sunny, right?) Fifteen years in... we can't believe how quickly the years have flown by... and I can't wait to see what the next 15... 30... 45 years bring!