The Princess Tea

On Saturday we went up to Salem to attend the Princess Tea at The Hawthorne Hotel. The girls and I had gone for the first time two years ago and thought it would be fun to go back. Dave's parents were to have joined us this weekend, but since there was supposed to be a large snowstorm arriving Saturday afternoon they decided to stay home instead of battling the elements. Since Grandma was not able to join us Dave proudly donned his pink tie and took her spot!

Dave's mom's favorite princess is Snow White so we had to have the girls take a picture with her!

It was a lovely afternoon!  The four of us had a wonderful time, though we are feeling as if the girls have now aged out of this event.  They were easily two of the oldest children there.  We were glad we went, sad that Dave's mom could not have been there but happy to have had some time together.  After all, any chance for the four of us to be together is fabulous with us! 

Anniversary Celebration

Ten years ago, Dave and I had the most amazing wedding ever!  It was so much fun to plan and such a joy to experience that we did not want it to end.  Like all weddings, it went by way too fast and there were surely many people we did not get to spend nearly enough time with.  We have been planning to do something for our tenth anniversary pretty much since the day we got married.  We had originally wanted to hold a vow renewal and backyard celebration, but after much discussion we realized that we should wait a little longer for that (maybe for our 15th?) and instead chose to have a small gathering with only our families present.  I believe it was my mom who suggested heading back to Salem (where our reception took place) for an afternoon of beachy, boardwalk fun.  We decided to follow that with a lovely dinner at the Hawthorne Hotel.  And so, we gathered this past Saturday (the day after our anniversary) to celebrate.

Ten years, two kids and a lot of adventures later, life sure is more amazing than we ever could have imagined.  Through the good times and the not so good times (though the good times surely outnumber the not so good times) we have laughed, loved and supported each other.  Thank you, David, not only for being my husband and best friend but for taking this marriage and parenting journey with me.  I could not imagine life without you there with me every step of the way.  Here's to the next ten years!  May they be filled with as much love, laughter and adventure as the past ten have been!  XOXO

 

And to our families:  thank you so much for coming to celebrate the past ten years with us.  Thank you for your love, support, encouragement and advice, and thank you for helping us kick off the next ten years in style! XO

Princess Tea

Today, I surprised the girls with a trip to Salem for the Hawthorne Hotel's Princess Tea!  For those that do not know, the Hawthorne Hotel is where Dave and I had our wedding reception (or "wedding party" as Grace likes to call it), so as you can imagine the Hawthorne holds a very special place in our hearts.  The girls got all dressed up in lovely new spring dresses, and after a few pictures at home we headed on our way.   

I have to admit that I was suprised to see the Disney Princesses in the lobby.  For some reason I thought it was going to be more "generic". 

Each girl was given a tiara, ring and candy necklace!

Emma's motto: Life's short, eat dessert first!

Dancing with the Hawthorne Hotel princess!

The girls each chose to have jeweled flowers placed on their hands.

As we were heading to the car after the tea, Grace said "Mama, this was wonderful! Can we do it again?!"  Somehow, I think that goes without saying!