Anniversary Stay-cation

This year we did things a little different for our anniversary. With all we've had going on lately, we wanted to just spend some quality time together. We asked my parents if they could watch the kids on Fri night, but since Father's Day was on Sunday, and we were going to be getting together for that, we asked if they could just keep the kids until Sunday and they gladly said yes. It's just enough time for the kids to tire out the grandparents and just enough time for the kids to miss us and want to come home. (We discovered that after about 2 days, Shyla starts missing us and talking about wanting to come home).

FRIDAY- With the kids gone, the first thing with did was TAKE A NAP. It was so nice to be able to take a nap, for as long as we wanted, without anticipating one of the kids waking up and screaming, thus pulling us out of a restful nap. It was the first time, in I can't even remember how long, that I actually felt rested.

For dinner we ate in and had BBQ'd tri-tip (marinated by moi and BBQ'd/smoked by Jake (below is a shot of his homemade smoker in the BBQ)), fresh mashed potatoes, and corn. The tri-tip turned out better than we both thought it was going to. We set up the TV trays and ate dinner in the family room while we watched a movie. After dinner we laid on the couch and relaxed while finishing the movie. Now, that may sound booooorrrring to most of you, but for us it was a rare occasion. We are always constantly on the go with all the happenings going on in our lives, so to be able to just sit, eat, and watch a movie... *singsongy voice* *ahhh, Heaven!*
SATURDAY- We set out to walk around Antioch and take pictures of our pretty city. We walked around by the delta and along the traintracks. DID YOU KNOW THAT ANTIOCH HAS A TRAIN STATION??? I sure didn't. At least that's why I think it is. Perhaps, the traintracks are a new favortite subject for me to take pictures of. There are many reasons why I think they make a nice subject: 1- Strong, 2- Old/vintage, 3- It doesn't move, 4- Worn and aged, 5- Not commonly photographed. (A lot of photography I see from friends are portraits.) Lombard Street in Antioch??? No, just a random pathway. The news is saying that the reason the bridge tolls just went up (July 1, 2010) AGAIN, is to go towards retrofitting the Antioch bridge. So, here you go folks, here is why it's "necessary" to raise, yet again, the bridge tolls, and why carpooling is no longer free. Now you have to pay $2.50 to carpool to work. Part of why people carpool is so they don't have to pay a toll fee. I'm all for retrofitting the bridge, but come on, find another way to fund it than to "take" it from commuters. It's expensive enough as it is. Perhaps listening to my grandparents and parents generation would be of some good for you: SAVE YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU WANT TO BUY SOMETHING AND BUY IT ONLY WHEN YOU'VE SAVED ENOUGH.

Jake was kind enough to allow me to practice taking portraits with him as my subject. I thought I did a good job, no? Isn't he handsome? I took a ton of pictures and had fun practicing with the lighting, here are a few of my favorites. After walking around the water, we walked a bit into "old downtown Antioch". I was a little disappointed. I thought there was going to be more to take pictures of. If I looked around I'm sure I could've found more. A lot of places were for lease, for rent, or vacant. We did see some shops that were open. There was the medical supply store (where I got Jake his $60 crutches, which I could've saved had we known he was going to have surgery and they give you a pair if you don't already have some. Hindsight is always 20/20), some tattoo shops, and vintage/second hand stores. We did come across large mural, I'm not sure of who painted it or what's it's really supposed to be about, but it made for a nice picture. It's across the street from one of the two locations Shyla has her dance classes. I don't think I've ever noticed it before. Proof that my brain is preoccupied. SUNDAY- We woke up, got ready for church, actually got there on time, and had a quiet time in Sacrament. While Jake was with his Primary class, I got to enjoy Sunday School. This is typically the time Jacob gets fussy because he wants to be sleeping so I have to walk around with him hoping he'll nap before Relief Society. I really enjoy Relief Society and I hate it when I have to take Jacob out, but that's just a side note.

Thanks sweetie for a fun, relaxing couple days! OH! And we supported our community by going to the library and checked out some videos and books that we thought Shyla would enjoy. It doesn't cost a lot of have a "vacation".