Our 4th Anniversary at the National Harbor

Chris and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this past weekend at the National Harbor. Chris' parents anniversary is the day before ours so they stayed at the harbor the night before we did. I was really worried about leaving Arista overnight, but after much reassurance we headed out for an amazing mini vacation.

We stayed at the Gaylord hotel, which is massive. Our room was on the 17th floor right in the middle of the hotel, with a fantastic view of the harbor and the inside of the hotel.





After checking out our room we walked the streets, and checked out the shops. There were all kinds of neat little stores, but my favorite store had to be the Peep store. Yes, a store all about Peeps, Mike and Ikes, and Hot Tamales. They had everything from the Peep bunnies, to Peep pens, and even Peep art! It was crazy! We tried a new candy that will be coming out in Spring 2011 which is a chocolate candy with marshmallow filling. Mmmm!



After shopping we went down to the harbor to check out the "Awakening" monument. We have seen it before, but weren't ever able to touch it. We couldn't leave without a picture in the giant hand.



When through site seeing we went back to the hotel and changed for dinner. We decided to eat at Moon Bay Coastal Cuisine which was inside the hotel. We had a crab cake for an appetizer, Chris has fish and chips and I had the best crab ever! To top it off we received free dessert for being part of the anniversary package. The dessert was 2 drumsticks covered in caramel, it wasn't anything special. Then when they brought out the check they also brought out complementary COTTON CANDY! It was the coolest thing! The cotton candy came out in a beautiful glass, and it was delicious! I have never had banana flavored cotton candy before, but it is now my favorite!





After dinner we walked around the hotel, and I played on their grand piano. It had a beautiful sound. Chris printed out our wedding song "Come What May" and I played it for us. After a little while we had an audience...the picture says it all!



After taking many more pictures we changed into our swimming suits and headed for the pool. Every night they play a children's movie on a huge projection screen over the pool. We watched the movie for a little bit, sat in the jacuzzi,then went outside and sat on the lawn and watched fireworks. It was so magical!





When the fireworks were finished we went back to our room and rented "Get Him to the Greek". It was a pretty funny movie! Then we crashed. I haven't slept that great since Arista was born! Chris woke up and headed down to the spa while I slept longer. Part of our Anniversary Package included free entry into their spa which included a sauna, whirl pool and tons of free stuff! After the spa Chris ran out and got Arista from his parents and brought her up to the room. She had a blast crawling around on the marble floors, and staring at herself in the mirror.





We grabbed a quick Cinnamon roll for breakfast, and then took Arista to the pool. They have a little fountain area outside for little kids, and she LOVED crawling through. Chris took her in the pool for a while, and they had a blast there as well. Arista was a huge fan of riding the glass elevator, and crawling all over the place in the lobby.











Arista was wiped by the time we got home, and so were we! We made it just in time to change and race to church.



We cannot thank Chad and Sue enough for watching Arista overnight for us. It was great to spend quality time together for our anniversary, and to feel like we were on vacation for a little while. Thank you Chris for setting this great weekend up for all of us, and for a wonderful time! I love you!