Anniversary Weekend

Our 5 year anniversary was on Friday May 9th! Sean and I both wanted to do something special for our anniversary but we were short on funds and time to plan. I decided that it would be nice to go to Carlsbad Caverns since I wanted to go before we left New Mexico and we only have 1 year left of med school. I debated wether to take the kids or not and decided that we would miss them and we wanted Brett to see the caves too. I looked up hotels in Carlsbad and they all have ridiculously high rates and surprisingly poor reviews considering their cost. I started to think that maybe the trip wouldn’t be possible when I decided to look at towns around Carlsbad. It was decided that we would stay in Roswell for less than half the cost!
We left Thursday morning about 10 and arrived in Roswell about 2. We stopped at a little park to have a snack and play. Our original plan was to go to the alien museum but the kids were tired and neither of us were too sad to miss it. The park was beautiful and we had a great time on the slides and swings.
Here is a shot of us right before we left. I had fun playing with the camera timer on this trip =)

A random fence when we first pulled into the town of Roswell:

A nice picture from the park:

Sean was inside the tunnel and Brett was peeking in, such a cute face!

We could check into the hotel at 3 and the whole reason we were staying in a hotel was to swim so we went right over. Brett was very very excited to see the pool and see where we would be sleeping. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express because that is where Sean and I stayed on our honeymoon in Park City. I loved all the memories especially of the breakfasts (those biscuits and gravy and cinnamon rolls!)
 
Brett LOVED swimming! He started out a little nervous but he got more and more comfortable and brave the longer we were there. We had the whole place to ourselves which was really nice!

Alana liked the pool too! She finally got a little too tired and fell asleep all snuggled in a towel:


My sister bought Brett this little swim vest two years ago on clearance and it was perfect for helping him feel comfortable and also to keep him safe!

Here he is getting more brave and just holding onto the noodle instead of a parent:


After swimming we were all really hungry and just walked to the Applebees right next to our hotel. The service was terrible and they brought Brett the wrong thing, overcharged us, and took forever! The food was delicious though and we still had a nice time. We came back to the hotel and got the kids all set up to sleep. Brett was so excited to have a sleepover with us and he loved all the pillows! Both kids fell asleep really quickly and slept great through the night!


The morning sun was nice and bright!


Playing with the camera timer again! Happy 5 year anniversary picture:

And with our little stowaways:

The last car trip for our borrowed hand-me-down van I fear =( The coolant is leaking at an incredible rate!
We drove the 3 hours to the caverns after breakfast and got all set to start our hike. Brett was really excited to be in the backpack and he couldn’t wait to go down in the caves. I decided not to take my nice camera down since I had my hands full with everything else.

We got to this point and Brett was super apprehensive. We started down the switchbacks and his little eyes filled with tears and he kept saying “Go up!” I don’t blame him, the mouth of the cave is super ominous. After about 15 minutes of playing games to go down a few switchbacks, Sean finally told him to look for the light and catch it. We spent the first part of the hike looking for and “catching” the next light. I was so proud of our brave little boy.

The trail is about a mile and you descend 800 ft in that time. It was super steep and I was grateful for the handrails. Sean and I were both tired with the extra weight on our backs. We hiked all the way to the bottom and a little ways around the great room but opted to take a short cut to shave off an hour since we weren’t sure how long the kids would hold out. It was a wise decision. We took the elevator up to the top and we were very grateful =) There was a little cafeteria at the top so we had some sandwiches and got the kids diapers changed and Alana fed and then loaded back in the van. We didn’t really think too hard about how long the trip home would be so we started about 2:30 and didn’t make it home till 8:30. The coolant was leaking, the kids were kinda falling apart, and we were both really tired, but at least no one vomited!
By the time we got home and the kids were in bed we were both in rotten moods, but after showers and some relaxing we were feeling happy enough to exchange gifts. I got Sean a nice polo shirt and some green chili salsa. He pooled all his mothers day budget and anniversary budget and personal allowance from the last several months to get me a gorgeous birthstone ring and a Swarovski crystal pendant. The ring has my birthstone in the middle and then two hearts on either side with Alana and Brett’s birthstones. I had to send it back to be resized but will post a picture when I get it back! I am so grateful to have spent the last 5 years with my very best friend!! He’s an incredible man and I am so happy he’s mine forever!!