Our 10th Anniversary!!!!!



Leevi and I were able to celebrate our T-E-N-T-H wedding anniversary in Budapest, Hungary where we were engaged!  Almost 11 years ago Leevi was deployed to Bosnia and I was teaching in Virginia Beach...we met in Budapest during my summer break and his R&R.  Never in a million years did we think we'd ever be able to go back, but how could we pass up the opportunity being so close!  Our good friends, the Kents, watched the girls for us (we took Luke because I'm still nursing him).  There was quite a bit of logistically finagling with getting the girls to Heidelberg (1hr 15min one way!), dropping Leila off at the dog sitters (30 min away), and then getting to the airport (1hr 10 min from the dog place)  BUT it all worked out and Luke did great on his first flight (about 1 1/2 hrs).  It was a quick trip, Thursday thru Saturday, and we opted for public transportation and our two feet (and a stroller!) 

Lots of snow in Germany as we were leaving!

Our dinner the first night after settling in the hotel...I would have gone back and eaten here again!!!  I had the tastiest quesadilla EVER and a greek salad...Leevi wasn't totally in love with his meal, but my quesadilla was way too big so I shared! 

After dinner, we walked to the main bridge which separates Buda from Pest, the Chain Bridge.

Friday was on only full day there, so we set out on foot to explore! 

Heroes Square...we tried using the GPS in walking mode (which TOTALLY failed us) and we ended up on the complete opposite end of town than I had planned for our morning.   

Christmas market...we got some gluwein to warm up!!!! 

Because we were on the wrong side of town, we stumbled upon the restaurant where Leevi proposed that we had planned on going to for dinner.  We debated for about 10 minutes about eating then for lunch or coming back for dinner (our dilemma was that we were only in jeans and had planned on dressing up, BUT we didn't want to have to walk all the way back and since we had Luke it was probably better that we ate when it wasn't crowded vs. a dinner rush on a Friday night.  We didn't have any baby food for Luke, so he ate the dinner rolls and drank water from a fancy long stemmed glass!  :)



I know I have a photo of me outside of the restaurant (in addition to more around Budapest), but that album got packed by mistake with a bookshelf that is in storage back in the States.  It was July when we got engaged and we sat outside in the gardens (the blue tents in the background of the picture).  It took us a second to find the exact location because a big tree we sat under has since been cut down.  

I framed our receipts together...the only reason I probably saved the receipt from 10 years ago was because it was so original and now of course most restaurants use computers.  I had the most delicious aparagus soup and pumpkin ravioli and 10 years ago I think I had fish.  Even though our meal was cheaper this time (lunch and not as much alcohol and dessert!) you can see the inflation on two matching items on the receipts. 

More sight-seeing!  It was freezing and we were so glad that decided to bring the stroller (we thought about just using the Ergo carrier, but his face would have been chilly!)  The stroller rain/wind cover isn't made for this stroller and I had it in a donation pile, but decided to try it out and it was PERFECT!  He was so toasty and took great naps while we explored! 

Our hotel!!!  Just kidding!!!  But we looked into it when we got home and it really wasn't too outrageous!  We said we'll stay there for our 25th!  :)   

 

Our flight was delayed almost 4 hours coming home!!!!  I was hoping that Luke would sleep on that flight but we had to let him nap before then.  That delay really threw us for a loop gathering up the rest of the family when got back but it was a great trip!

 

On our actual anniversary, we Leevi grilled steaks and we celebrated as a family!  Here's to 10+ more wonderful years!!!