Celebrating Our 22nd Anniversary

We recently celebrated 22 years of marriage.  We have always tried to celebrate our anniversary in a big way.  I look forward to it all year long and we talk often about what we want to do to celebrate each year.  For the past few years we have been celebrating at the beach in El Salvador.  I am a creature of habit and if I find something I like I will usually stick with it for a long time.  With that being said, much of our trip is a repeat from the years before.  I like the memories of doing things over again and being able to reminisce about being in those same places in years past.  It has become a fun tradition that our whole family loves and looks forward to.  Here is a look at our celebration this year.

Pancakes are what we eat for most all holidays and special occasions.  Here are our early anniversary pancakes this year.  We ate, did a little school, and then headed off to El Salvador.

We always stop for lunch at the Pizza Hut in Santa Ana, El Salvador.  We love Pizza Hut.  It is quick, simple, and reminds us of  home.  They also have an indoor playland so it allows the boys to burn off some energy.

I also like to recreate photo moments.  This was my fourth year to take their picture with the Pizza Puch.  An interesting fact that you might not know is that El Salvador uses the U.S. dollar as their currency (notice the "from $4.99" sign in the background).  It is so strange to us to be there and pay with money from home. 

Right next door to the Pizza Hut is Mister Donut.  It is a must stop on each of our trips.  We love donuts and these are really good.  We could almost just eat Pizza Hut and donuts and then return home feeling like we have had a great trip.

We always pass by Lake Coatepeque on the way to the coast.  The boys have always been napping in the past and we have never been able to stop and look around.  This was the first year we have been able to do that.  It is so beautiful from the lookout.

me and David at the mirador overlooking Lake Coatepeque in El Salvador

the boys enjoying the beautiful views

I love my little family!

We arrived mid-afternoon to get checked in.  The first thing the boys wanted to do was go get snowcones.  It is an all-inclusive place so they could have all they wanted.  I lost count with how many they had before our trip ended.  It is one of their favorite things about going there.  As you can see from their red mouths they had already eaten one and were headed back for another when I took this photo.  They became good buddies with the snowcone lady.

"mama, is my tongue red?"

We then put on our swimsuits and headed out to play in the sand.

22 years and counting

They love playing in the sand.  We always take plenty of shovels, buckets, and trucks.  They play so hard and we usually just sit back and enjoy watching them.

my silly boys

the beautiful sunset on our first night

The next morning after breakfast we headed back out to the beach.  This day was our anniversary eve. 

We also spent a lot of time that day at the pool and in the snowcone line.  It was a very relaxing day.

cheers to yummy, unlimited snowcones!

That evening we got cleaned up and took our anniversary pictures.  It is my favorite part of going to the beach.

me and my precious boys

David and the boys

our family

an early anniversary dinner

The next day was our actual anniversary.  Here we are enjoying breakfast on our special day.

Next up we headed out on a little bike ride.  We love riding bikes!  This was the first year that Ben has been big enough to do it.  It was another favorite moment of mine.

family fun

A new addition to the hotel this year was a rock wall and zip line.  After our bike ride those were next on our to-do list.

The zipline just has one long station but it was still a lot of fun.  Here we are about to climb the stairs to do it.

David and Ben on the zipline.

enjoying the ocean views

We spent the rest of the morning at the beach.

Two local fishermen came by with their net.  They threw it out and caught several small fish.  They then dumped them out on the sand for the boys to see.  I think the fishermen enjoyed the boys as much as the boys enjoyed the fish.

Ben loved picking them up but Cruz would not touch them. 

fun in the sun

Clowning around as we enjoyed one last swim in the pool and one last snowcone.  

We ate lunch, checked out, and made the drive back home that afternoon.  We had an amazing time!  It was fun to get away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary, spend time as a family, and just relax a little bit.  The boys are already asking how many days it is until we get to go back.  I think they love our anniversary just as much as we do.