Last Monday (June 21st) was our 8th anniversary. We got married in Clear Lake, where I spent my summers growing up. I always love to spend our anniversary at the lake, and most of the time we get to do it, but this time, my mom was on vacation, so we had our little man with us all day. And it turned out to be a really special and fun day! Just the three of us (we are enjoying these days together a LOT lately, because we know soon our world is going to change!)
We wanted to do something fun, so we took Andrew to the zoo. They were having a dinosaur exhibit and I knew Andrew would just go nuts. First we rode the train (this is how excited Andrew was when the train got going!)
Our plan was to do the dinos last on the way out, but Andrew was seeing advertisements everywhere, and all he wanted to do was see them and didn't want to look at any other animals until he did! Ha! So on the way we spotted a tortoise, and swung by the penguins...
But soon after we made our way to the dinos... Andrew was so funny when we approached the door- he wouldn't go in! You could hear dinosaur sounds (sorta scary!) at the entrance and he just stood there and stared in at them. I was surprised, because he was so excited to go, then I had to push him in! Ha!
Once he got in there he went nuts! He just stood there and stared.
Then he put up his hands and growled at them! Ha!
They really were neat, I can see why all the kiddos were going nuts!
They had all different kinds of dinosaurs, he walked all around and looked at all of them
But he kept making his way back to this big guy! He loved T-Rex. It was his favorite!
They even had rubbings where you could make a dinosaur fossil. Andrew liked doing this, I think he made 3 of them!
His buddy, T-Rex!
After we drug him out of the dinosaur exhibit, we got up close and personal with a giraffe! Ha!
This impressed me more than anything else! There was one right next to the fence! I couldn't believe I got up this close to one! (And it isn't even zoomed in!)
Andrew still wanted to go up on the platform to see them, but I thought that other one was close enough!
The giraffe behind them was eating!
Then Andrew went crazy when he saw this peacock- he kept saying it was from Kung Fu Panda 2! And it did look kind of like the one in that movie. He always makes connections between things he sees or has done before- it is so good! Makes this teacher happy!
Monkeys were climbing right up the cage in front of us too!
Andrew got to "drive" a safari jeep!
And watch some sleeping lions.
It was a really beautiful day- not too hot. We all had a great time together! Afterwards we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant and we all got dessert to celebrate!
And for our 8th anniversary... I have 8 things to share that I love about my husband (and there are many, many more...)
1. I love that he has given me 2 beautiful children, a son and a daughter, everything I always wanted in life. He has made all of my dreams come true, and I still often think back to our first date when we fell in love, and I still have the same feelings that I did then. And I love that.
2. He is the best daddy in the world. I love to watch him play and "wrestle" with Andrew, teach him to ride a bike and take him to the park for me so I can rest or get things done. He takes good care of us.
3. I love that he can still make me laugh, and jokes we had 8 years ago still make us laugh today.
4. I love that he still asks me for help to match an outfit! Ha! He pretty much lets me do things I want to the house and doesn't care what color I paint, or what I pick out to decorate. He knows this is my area of "expertise!" Ha! (I know lots of husbands who don't let their wives do this...and I am lucky!) He pretty much always says "yes" to me! :)
5. We have a strong mutual trust in each other. We both know how much we love each other, and we can always trust one another. That is so important in a marriage.
6. I love what a hard worker he is, and how much pride he takes in his job. I know his job (as an athletic director) takes a lot of time away from us, especially in the evenings and for school activities, but I am always so proud of him when I go to the school and run into many different people (coaches, teachers, parents, etc) who all tell me what a wonderful guy he is! (Like I didn't know!) :)
7. I love that no matter how demanding his job is, he still makes time to do things with us as a family and puts Andrew and I first. When we go up to visit him at school, he'll drop everything to take Andrew on a ride in the gator, and drive him around and show him off to everyone. I love how proud he is of his son.
8. Most of all, I love that through it all, we love each other more today than 8 years ago. We have been able to sustain our marriage and make it even stronger. We have been through so much together (losing my dad one month after our wedding, Andrew's heart diagnosis, putting our son through 3 open heart surgeries, etc) and we never wavered. We can get through tough times together, and I just think that is amazing.
Honey, thank you for giving me the life I always wanted. You still make me happy and I love the little family we have created. You are still my knight in shining armor, and if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.
Happy Anniversary!
