the Morrison family: March 2013

In lieu of paper, silver or whatever the "5 year wedding anniversary" gift is, Chris and I enthusiastically chose a vacation! And after spending three memorable days in Santa Barbara, we knew we chose right!

It was date night multiplied and a celebration I will always cherish! We thoroughly enjoyed our time together, missed our kids, and cheers'd more time than once: "we have wonderful people in our lives"! This trip could not have happened without my Dad & Ann, my Mom, Meredith, Glenda & Erin!! Our collaboration of babysitters not only humbled us, but made us realize yet again just how many "wonderful people we have in our lives". Thank you to all of you. I know Avery & Warner loved being with you and were in exceptional hands.

Thanks to Mer's last minute medication help (yet again) Chris was feeling better JUST in time for the trip and it was only up from there! We spent Friday afternoon exploring State Street: eating, shopping, talking, and enjoying each others undivided attention. Do I sound cheesy yet????

My sweet friend Kristin (another friend I stole from James) :) gave us a plethora of Santa Barbara recommendations so we took advantage and headed to The Four Seasons for dinner. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Dinner overlooking the ocean at sunset. I need not say more.

We made a last minute decision for Saturday's agenda to join a Captain Jack's tour to Santa Ynez Wine Country and it was an unexpected/unplanned highlight to our trip! Not only was the scenery and wine incredible, but we were paired with a 4 gal bachelorette party that we adored! By the end of the trip, Chris said my favorite line yet: "Ladies, this is definitely in the top 2 bachelorette parties I've been to!". I love him. It was his first time wine tasting and he was a natural. We had so much fun with those girls (my new long distance friends) and it only added to the enjoyment of our day!

Sunday? Could it possibly get better? Why, yes. Yes, it did!

Morning breakfast on the beach, mimosas and all; followed by 50 minute deep tissue massages. I'd say that was a step in the right direction!

And with two hours left to spend before our flight, we headed to Wharf for possibly a top highlight of the trip. We found their one wine tasting room set perfectly upon a balcony overlooking the Santa Barbara Hills. Wine tasting, sun in my face and incredible music playing in the background. I did not want to leave. So much so I tried to convince Chris that a cheese plate would suffice for lunch. I just loved that moment. Those 2 hours.

Can you tell pretty much every part of the trip was a highlight???

I will say, I hit a brief low on Saturday night and missed the kids A LOT but pushed through and knew this time away was healthy.

You can only imagine our excitement the moment we saw them Sunday night!!

Chris and I both mentioned at one point how blessed we are to be anxious to head back to reality and LOVE our reality! Kids will do that to you! (in my opinion at least!)

Hard to believe 5 years of marriage has already passed but it's been an amazing start to this blessed journey!...

Wine tasting on Stearn's Wharf!

Hotel grounds!

Squeezing our way into the Bachelorette Party!

Stearn's Wharf

View from our balcony.

Santa Ynez Wine Country!

Making our mark at SevTap Winery (definitely our FAVORITE wine tasting!)

Cheers-ing in front of peach trees. Why not? I guess they do supply the peach ice cream nearby.

VERY excited about our souvenir find for the kiddos!!

Prepping for a day of wine tasting!

Santa Ynez in the town.

Dinner at Four Seasons.

Out front of the Four Seasons Santa Barbara.

View across from our hotel.

Our hotel. Highly recommend!

Lunch at Eureka! Was really delicious!

Both of these pictures were sadly taken sans Chris. We asked a lady "do you mind taking a picture of us?" and she replied "actually, I do mind!" We could not believe it. Sucks to be her! Fortunately everyone else in SB were great!