Carmel Trip - Happy Place

So all of my Disneyland pics still sit...untouched, unedited, blurry ones glaring at me every few pictures but they all had to wait BECAUSE for four long, glorious days my hubby and I got to feel young again, adult again and have many uninterrupted conversations again in this absolutely BEAUTIFUL space known as Carmel, CA.

One of T's friends & business partners planned his wedding for this past weekend in Carmel at a winery. There was no arm twisting whatsoever when we found out when the wedding was...and absolutely no arm twisting when my mom found out she would get to come here to watch the kiddos while we were away!

The bride & groom - Kent & Jenna

We had already planned our Disneyland trip before we had a definite date of the wedding but when all was said and done we figured two seperate weeks in different parts of sunny CA wouldn't be that bad!

Thursday right after we checked in the trolley left for a wine tour! Fun to get to know everyone and see the beautiful vineyards. As you can tell above Tim is most def a beer guy! He made a mad dash (along with some other guys) to the closest gas station for a cold one between tasting room stops!

Friday started out with us up at the crack of dawn from the time change. He grabbed his computer and phone for some work and I took off running in this very hilly area but passed some gorgeous properties and horses everywhere. I decided half way through that I should turn around when the path was taking me into this natural park....no cell phone and unsure of directions and area doesn't make for the best match for me!

We then squeezed in a couple's massage (hadn't had one since our honeymoon) and took off towards the little town with shops, bakeries and the beach!

Tim thought a drive by would appease me...HA! absolutely not. You can't take a beach girl and just drive her by the beach, NO WAY (this is Carter's favorite saying right now BTW)

Can I just say how weird it feels to be posting pictures by myself :) as a mom you aren't in as many pictures and then to have one by myself with NO kids is just plain weird!

The cute little shops in Carmel are so fun...just window shopping, stopping at little cafe's for coffee and to enjoy the weather was the perfect day!

And YES the sky was this blue every day!

Just as I was really missing the kids on Saturday morning, I reached into my pocket of some shorts I put on and found this...

I thought it was trash but it was GOLD Kablooms. And those who know Jake and the Neverland Pirates would know what Gold Kablooms are. We had gotten them in Disneyland from a show we had taken the kids to and Brooklyn my little saver, creative bean wanted to keep them to go on a treasure hunt at home. I had obviously washed them in the washing machine but the kablooms stayed put in my pocket. They definitely made me smile and thankful they didn't dissapear in the rinse cycle.

The Wedding - Saturday, October 22, 2011

A shot of the front of the lodge the morning we were heading back to the airport

And as much fun as it is to get away, we missed the kids and were ready to see them...but we also knew it would be hard to get back into the swing of things after having four fun filled days. We had so many happy memories...I loved my quiet thinking time and fitting in all the small little happy things just because I could so as I took pictures I made mental notes to remember these happy places/memories when I got back home to the "no's, whines and drama days that I truly love, but now when they happened I could mentally escape back to these happy places for a quiet moment (at least for the first week back)!

We passed this Organic Farm Stand a few times on our drive into town and I knew when I found myself alone and heading back to the hotel with a few minutes to spare that I couldn't help but stop and take it all in! What I wouldn't do to have something like this in my own town...heaven. I bought a couple of apples and a muffin to take back and enjoy. Of course when I saw the pumpkin patch it made me miss the kids and think of all the fun we would have here too!

HAPPY FEET!

Didn't realize until downloading pictures how many I took of my feet...I guess when I had time on my hands and no kids underfoot my camera went to my feet! But these pics make me smile. LOVED my long run on the beach on Saturday morning. A DEFINITE happy place. Then stopping for coffee and taking a picture of the cute little fire station for Car man capped it off. I pushed the limits of time in getting ready for the wedding because I wasn't willing to part with my book, sun and pool time at the hotel quite yet. Another happy place for sure! All by myself I think that's what I couldn't get over. And then my shoes...loved these shoes and so thankful I didn't break an ankle that night. After running around after three kids in flip flops and running shoes this was a stretch but a fun one and happy place for SURE!

We were able to take the 17 Mile Pebble Beach Drive which was BEAUTIFUL. I loved the trees and houses and Tim loved the golf courses! Oh and we found this cute little cottage across from the beach...happy place!

Hit the plane ride home and missed Carmel already BUT it didn't take long for me to almost tear up when I caught sight of this on the plane....

And when we get to come home to this....

It's a good trade. BUT Carmel, WE WILL BE BACK!