wow, its been 4 years!?

This weekend was our 4th wedding anniversary mini vay-cay. Saturday morning we dropped Wyatt off at my sister's house and drove over to the Bend area (central Oregon), which was about a 3 hr drive. On the way we stopped in Sisters, had lunch at a BBQ restaurant and then walked through the town enjoying the perfect sunny weather. We also came across a bakery and shared a yummy chocolate mouse and brownie concoction.




After we drove around the town a little, we drove on toward Bend and explored there a bit too. We found "The Old Mill Mall" area which reminded me of Fresno's Riverpark shopping area a little bit, however the whole mall sat along the Deschutes river. We ended up going back to our hotel at the River House Hotel and checked in. We were really happy with our room which opened up directly onto the river. We relaxed for a bit and then went to the pool and swam and laid out. It was soooo relaxing. After we vegged at the pool, we got ready for dinner and went to our pool lounge area and got our free 'welcome' drinks. The lounge area was neat because it also sat directly along the river providing the best ambiance I think I've ever experienced at a bar :)

After our drink, we drove over to the downtown area of Bend, walked around a bit until it was time for our reservation at Stoccato's at the Fire House. My great uncle Bill who just recently passed away had told me about this place when I last saw him. It really was a great tip. The location was great (the old Fire house) and Will and I enjoyed a delicious dinner. Will had homemade ravioli's with elk and I had braised short ribs, mashers and vegies.

After dinner we explored the downtown area and found a candy store. Somehow we managed to spend $7 on candy alone (Will's sweet tooth was in high gear I guess). This worked out fine because we decided to go see the movie "Date Night." So we drove back over to the Old Mill mall area and strolled along the river until the movie started. We really liked the movie and found ourselves LOL (a lot!) ;)

We got back to our room at around 11:30pm and conked out. In the morning we ate a hot breakfast buffet at our hotel and then found the nearest Walmart so Will could pick up some boat shoes for our river rafting excursion as well as a waterproof camera. He had forgotten his Teva's at home and didn't want to water log his new hiking boots. Anyways we managed to get to the river rafting place on time and had a fabulous time. Our only complaint was it wasn't long enough and we wanted to go again :) The water was a bit chilly but the air was warm enough to offset it. It was a perfect day on the river. After we worked up an appetite rafting, we found an Abby's pizzeria (our favorite Oregon pizza place), and then drove to Smith's Rock State park which our guide had recommended. We werent disappointed either. It was gorgeous. Although we didn't make the hike down due to needing to get home, we got some great pictures. Apparently its one of the best rock climbing places in the country/world?



We got home safely and so appreciated our time away but by Sunday afternoon, we really missed our little guy. We knew he was having a blast with his aunt and uncle, cousin and grandparents though. Anyways it was nice for all of us to get a little vacation :)