babymoon in SLC

Back in June, we didn't really do anything to celebrate our fourth anniversary. I figured we could just do a babymoon and anniversary something-or-other all in one go. I didn't quite know what we'd end up doing, but we finally came to the conclusion that we'd just do a one-night getaway somewhere nearby. Although we would have loved to do something more extensive, Russ really didn't have the time to take off work, and we really didn't have the money for anything extravagant since we've been putting a bunch of money into our yard and water softener (and still have more to spend money on for the yard! Sheesh!).

We considered going to the Anniversary Inn because we love going there and hadn't been in over a year, but I just kept thinking about the amazing breakfast buffet that is available at the Little America Hotel so we wound up choosing that instead. We selected the "getaway package," which included the room, an assortment of foods in a bag when we got there, and a dining credit that we would end up using for the breakfast. Other than the hotel and the breakfast, we didn't make any plans beforehand. I had every intention of doing so (I even made a big list of things that sounded good to me), but time just got away from me, I guess. Oh, well!

I picked Russ up from work around 2pm on Friday, August 19 and we headed off!

Mid-drive to Salt Lake, I said that drinks from Sonic sounded good, and it was happy hour, so we went and got ourselves some frozen strawberry lemonade and limeade!

We wanted to try something new for dinner, but we didn't want it to be too heavy because it was an earlier dinner than usual, so we were still doing okay from lunch. We also planned to use some of that food credit for room service later in the evening. On recommendation from Russ's sister Lacey, we tried out Spitz. It's a greek wrap place, and we were quite satisfied with our beef and lamb "doner with pommes."

Next we checked into our hotel. Once there, we just chilled for a while. We wanted to watch the Olympics, but mostly ended up flipping channels since we weren't too interested in whatever was on the Olympics. We don't have normal TV -- just Netflix -- so it was kinda weird to watch TV with commercials and channel flipping since we don't ever do that anymore! We also munched on Milano cookies that came in our room food bag. We chatted a bit about the past four years and some of the adventures to come in the years ahead.

At one point, Russ buried himself in pillows. At another point, he jumped on the bed. Haha that silly goose :)

I totally thought we would go out and do something that night, but we really just pretty much stayed in the hotel and relaxed together. We watched TV sometimes, and we chatted sometimes, but mostly we just relaxed. Later on, we watched Baby Mama since it was our babymoon and all haha :) Partway through Baby Mama, we got hungry again so we ordered room service -- chicken tenders and jalapeno poppers. It was kinda fun to get the food delivered to our room and to eat it in bed . . . just made things more out-of-the-ordinary I guess :)

Then, since we were in Salt Lake, I really wanted to make a stop to Nielsen's Frozen Custard, so even though it was late and we were pretty full and the shop was 15 minutes away from our hotel, we decided to go. We even paused the movie to make sure we made it before the shop closed! Mmmmm bumbleberry concrete :) :)

After getting back, we finished our movie (there were seriously only like five minutes left haha) and then Russ watched some more TV while I opted to go to sleep. We're real party animals ;)

Although I could tell that the hotel bed was ordinarily comfortable, I knew it wasn't as good for pregnant sleeping as my Purple mattress is. So unfortunately, I didn't sleep too well. I didn't figure out the perfect pillow configuration until about 6am.

After waking up the next morning, we again just cuddled, chatted, and relaxed before heading down to the delicious buffet :D Since I am pregnant and my stomach does not hold nearly as much as I'd like it to these days, I had to really pick and choose the things I would finish, so for a few things, I got one of something and Russ got one of something else so we could both try both. Below are just a few of the delicious things we ate :)

For my future reference, the things I really love and want to fill up on next time I go are the eggs benedict, waffles with strawberry sauce and whipped cream, and pretty much every pastry except the cinnamon roll and regular croissant (I prefer the one with chocolate in it). Though I think I saw cheese somewhere . . .  the regular croissant would have been worth it with savory ingredients like cheese and meat. And although I didn't get it, I should try a made-to-order omelet instead of the ready-made eggs. The biscuit and gravy will tempt me, but it's not worth it! Haha :)

While we were in there, we ran into some of my parents' best friends, whom I love! The Thorpes are some of the nicest people, and they were super nice that day as well -- after we chatted for a bit and returned to our food, our waiter told us that they had paid for our breakfast! It was so nice! But as I mentioned earlier, we had purchased a room that came with dining credit we were intending to use for this breakfast . . . we tossed around a few ideas of what we could do but we eventually decided to pay it forward. Hopefully that random couple didn't have dining credit, too! Hahaha :)

We both tried not to fill ourselves to the point of dying, but we were definitely full since we didn't eat food again until 8pm that night! Crazy haha :)

After checking out of our hotel, we went to look at a car that we were considering buying. After thoroughly checking it out and test driving it a bit, Russ was sold, but I said we should think about it a bit, so we went to the Pioneer Park Farmer's Market while we thought about it. The trouble with buying cars is that I know pretty much nothing and Russ knows a lot, so it's hard to come to a decision because I can't provide much input, but Russ is a bit too impulsive when it comes to buying cars so I have to somehow try to balance that out. I've learned that I just have to question him excessively to find out if the problems that exist are problems that he can live with, or if he's settling, or how he'll feel about the car in a week. So after we did a bit of that, it seemed he still wanted to buy it, but then he got cold feet out of nowhere! So I had him call his dad to discuss things with him, since his dad is a car junky just like Russ. So while Russ chatted on the phone, I looked at the little shops. We went at the tail end of the market, so a lot of places had already packed up. What was left was mostly produce, which I wasn't really interested in buying on that particular day. But it was still fun to walk through with Russ once he got off the phone :)

While there, we ran into Wendy, a friend of Russ's from his mission to Portugal. It was pretty funny -- he waved to her, she and her husband passed us, and then we all kind of turned around to come back together. Russ was wearing sunglasses and had a beard, so I think it took her a bit to recognize him. I was confused at first because Russ does not wave enthusiastically to strangers, but I hadn't seen anyone I recognized. The four of us chatted for a few minutes -- Russ and Wendy in Portuguese for a minute :) It was fun :)

After the market, Russ and I headed to the bank for some money for the car, and we also made another stop to Sonic for happy hour frozen lemonades :D We went back and bought the car before heading home separately in two different cars. I kept telling Russ that I was a little sad we had to drive home from our babymoon separately!

All in all, we really didn't do much on our babymoon (other than EAT!), but we still enjoyed having all of that time to spend together :) We came home feeling very lovey dovey . . . like for the rest of the weekend we just wanted to talk and cuddle and be together haha :) we took naps together, played games together, and went on a walk together. I really love this kid, and I'm so happy we get to be together forever. We've had four wonderful years together, and we're excited for the new adventures that our little Ada will bring into our lives! :)

**ashleynicole