The REAL Anniversary Post

Hello, interwebz! I've been so busy living life that I haven't had time to document it. And now half of us are sick (it's Daniel's first illness, poor miserable baby). Well, in between wiping noses and administering analgesics, I shall attempt feebly to share with you all the awesome, the fun, and the merely mundane things we've been doing.

So, back to our anniversary. As I mentioned before, for our 10th wedding anniversary Mr. Pickles surprised me with a trip to Key West, Florida, including, but not limited to, a 3-night stay in a beach resort hotel with an ocean view, 3 separate boating trips, food poisoning, snorkeling, kayaking, a dinner sunset cruise, and pirates. He told me a couple weeks before our anniversary that a) we were going Someplace; b) my parents were coming out to watch the kids for us; and c) I should bring a swimsuit. And that was all I was told. He had been planning the trip with my parents for a couple months beforehand -- I was very impressed with his sneakiness.

So, the parents came out a couple days before Thanksgiving, and we had time to visit with them before we left. The day after Thanksgiving we kept our tradition of visiting an historic place in Old Town Alexandria by touring the Carlyle House. Gadsby's Tavern was booked solid, so we had to settle for a fish & chips place for dinner, with disastrous consequences for those who partook of the tartar cause (see "food poisoning," above).

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Mr. Pickles and Daniel and I left at o'dark-thirty to catch our early flight. I didn't officially know where we were going until we checked in (although we did receive a mysterious phone call at home from some charter service that got me wondering). :) I had been concerned about the new invasive security screenings at the airport, but thankfully we didn't set anything off or get selected randomly for Special Treatment. Daniel was an awesome air traveler. He just threw buckets of cute at all the flight attendants.


This is what he thought of the whole business.

He was the happiest of the three of us, since Mr. Pickles and I were regretting the breakfast potatoes we had purchased and consumed at the airport. The connecting flight was misery for me -- I was so exhausted from the short night but couldn't sleep because of the nausea. But we finally, finally arrived in paradise! I could smell the ocean the second I stepped out of the plane -- it smelled so much like home!

It had just rained before we landed -- the sky was spritzing a bit as we climbed down from the plane (Key West's airport is so small they simply roll a stairway up to the plane, the old-fashioned way). But the sun was out by the time we finished the 10-minute taxi ride to our hotel. The weather was utterly amazing the whole time we were there -- lower to upper 70's.

This was the view from our balcony. Look! It's a palm tree! Right out my window!

The hotel even had its own private little beach & swimming area, complete with diving platform.

The diving platform, when not being used by people, was usually covered with birds. So this poor guy had to go out every morning and scrub it off.

10 minutes later...

We spent most of that first afternoon napping and drinking in great draughts of the sea air. Daniel was also a greasy baby -- and pretty sweaty in his fleece jammies by the time we landed -- so he got a bath.


By the evening I was feeling well enough again to venture out, so we went to dinner and walked around for a bit. I was totally happy just relaxing on our balcony, too.

Ahhhhh... I can feel all the tension dripping out...

The next morning we got up early and ordered room service (so decadent!), then walked to the marina for a boat trip with Danger Charters. Yes, we brought the baby on the boat.

The baby-in-a-wrap accessory is all the rage this season. All the cool kids have one.

I'm afraid I'm not a nautical person, so I can't describe the boat, except to say it was large enough to comfortably hold our group of a dozen or so, including the two sailors. I loved sailing. Once we got far enough out, they cut the engine and hoisted the sails.

Mr. Pickles got to help.

It was amazing how quiet it was when the engine stopped -- just the water slapping against the side of the boat, and the wind in your ears. I loved watching the sailors at their work, running around barefoot, tying, untying, hoisting... I gained a lot of respect for the workings of even the smallest sailboat. You really have to know your boat and the winds to sail it well.

We sailed out for about an hour, then dropped anchor to go snorkeling. The waters around Key West are so shallow that even that far out it was only 8 feet deep, and so clear. The waves were so gentle that it made for awesome snorkeling, once your body stopped panicking over the fact that you were BREATHING UNDER WATER.

We took turns holding the baby so we both got a chance to get in the water (which felt heavenly).

Among things seen were sponges on the seafloor -- which are black underwater -- a lobster, and a ray, in addition to lots of stripey fish that glimmered as they turned. It was beautiful. I could have stayed out there all day.


Here I am getting sunburned. (All we had was spray-on sunscreen which we weren't allowed to use on the boat, so we couldn't reapply it after we had toweled off.)

We began sailing back, and then stopped again, this time for kayaking near a small island made by mangrove trees. These trees are wicked awesome -- they grow right out of the water.

I didn't feel comfortable taking the baby out on the kayak (even though the water was only about 4 ft. deep) so I stayed on the boat and talked with the captain. (and worked on my tan)

Altogether it was a delightful day. Even though they didn't serve lunch technically, we had fresh fruit on our way out which was amazing -- and coming back we were served chips with a black bean dip which just hit the spot. We highly recommend this company, if any of you are ever in Key West. :)

After lunch in our hotel, we decided to introduce Daniel to the beach.

He was extremely suspicious of the water. For one thing, it was much colder than bathwater. And it KEPT COMING AT HIM.

The sand, however, was a different story.



THAT he liked.

That evening we went on a sunset cruise... with pirates. This was a LOT of fun.

See how much fun our li'l pirate is having? And see the real pirate?

Actually, Cascabel the Pyrate (swashbuckler for hire -- he gave us his business card) was a really cool guy. He makes all his own costumes, including the leather and metal pieces. He was wearing this really cool ring, symbolic of his membership in the Order of Leviathan, which he said is like winning an Oscar in the "pirate community." (...There's a community?)

The trip itself was wonderful -- the crew of three kept commenting on what a perfect evening it was for sailing. Again I enjoyed watching them running around hoisting and tying (the pirates mostly just stood around and looked cool).

The sunset was beautiful.

But the best part was the cannons.

This exchange began: "Surrender your women or prepare to be boarded!"


Totally fun night. If we ever go back I want to do this again.

Best quote of the evening: "You meet a lot of really nice people in the Pirate Community!" (what ever happened to pillaging and plundering?)

The next day we did the ultra-touristy thing and took a tram ride around the island. That was really interesting, although the sing-songy voice of the tour guide made the trip the most memorable. One got the impression that he had done this several thousand times before.


We got to see the Southernmost Point in the continental U.S. Maybe next time we're in Minnesota we can visit the Northernmost Point.

The rest of the day we ratted around and shopped and had Key Limeade and Key Lime ice cream.


Yay! I like having my diaper changed in Key West!


Beware the giant sponge beast!


Funny shot of the trip: even Paradise has trash day. And when you live on an island, the trash truck has to get there somehow...

That evening we went on another sunset cruise, this time a private one, with a gourmet dinner.

Table for two (and a half).

Daniel couldn't fall asleep with wind in his face -- it kept making him gasp. It was pretty funny, except when we wanted him to sleep.


Oh, I could get used to this.


Oh, to be surrounded by such beauty all the time! The couple who were serving us watched the sunset too. They admitted they never got tired of watching it -- each one was different and beautiful.

The dinner was amazing, too. The man had a grill bolted to the back of his boat. The couple pretty much let us be, but were willing to chat when we asked them questions. It was just the right mix.

After we returned to the marina we walked around once more, feeling mellow and at one with all humanity. (I'm sure the alcohol helped with that attitude.)

Even though I'm from California, it's funny to me to see palm trees decorated for Christmas.

Alas, we had to leave the next day. Apparently we left just in time: this was the view as we were packing up to leave :
The temp dropped down into the 60s soon after we left. It was nice of God to arrange things so perfectly for us. :)

It was a wonderful time. It was great just being alone together with relatively few interruptions. It was nice just spending the time with Daniel, too. It reminded us of when we had only Miriam.


And of course, it was good to come home!

Also of course, life dumped on us as soon as we returned. Joseph lost his dinner all over the dining room floor, which made Miriam feel sick. But the kids had been great for their grandparents while we were gone, and everyone had a good time. We were all sad when Mom & Dad had to go home. We were so grateful for the time with them, and that they were willing to do this for us. Thanks Mom and Dad! (I hope you've recovered by now!) :)
 
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Post updated to add:

I forgot to mention before that possibly the best anniversary gift Mr. Pickles and I received was this:

The girls cleaned their room, unasked, all by themselves, as a surprise for us!!