SIX

oct. 20, 2012 was our sixth anniversary! as mentioned previously, we didn't celebrate much on the actual day because of my mom's change in travel plans, a crazy halloween party, etc. so instead we played hooky and celebrated on monday and tuesday. traditional work weeks are for suckers. ;)

it was so nice to have my mom in town to watch jack, and she insisted we go away for at least a night. sure, i can do that. we planned a little staycation right here in seattle and stayed at the four seasons in downtown. it was dreamy, complete with complimentary chocolate-covered celebratory strawberries, room service for breakfast and a tv right in the mirror. we had a delicious & kid-free dinner at lecosho and then walked around the waterfront.

the view from our hotel's rooftop deck was amazing! my favorite ferris wheel all lit up:

the next day, we crossed something off our long-procrastinated to do list and took the seattle underground tour. (sometimes we talk so much about doing things that we end up NEVER doing them because it just gets ridiculous. case in point: living in LA, we wanted to go to an outdoor movie at the hollywood forever cemetary sooooo bad. they show movies on the wall of a mausoleum, while you sit on the graves of hollywood starlets! awesome right? anyway, we talked about it SO much, and even drove all the way there twice, but never actually made it inside. i am convinced i will go to my grave -- pun intended -- without ever seeing a movie there. sad. tangent over.)

this, however, totally delivered! such a cool way to learn more about the history of our city -- and dig around in some old buildings too.

long story short -- when seattle was founded in the 19th century, they had a ton of problems with the water table & city development. after a fire wiped out most of the city, they rebuilt -- but decided to raise the entire city 15 feet. thus, the first floor of all the buildings became the basement, with the second floor becoming the main level. the roads were filled in, but all the sidewalks & basements still exist. this tour takes you through a few of the remaining basements and walkways, which were still open for business for a while after the re-grade (thus the skylights below). this is the earliest known photo of the original seattle:

i love all the old buildings in pioneer square. smith tower is especially cool. i got to go in there for the first time a few weeks ago -- they are the only building in seattle with real live elevator operators! i felt so fancy.

from there, we walked back to pike place market for some beecher's mac & cheese and headed home to see jack & my mom. it was a perfect little getaway and i hope we start doing this every year. ;)

and now, for the traditional anniversary walk down memory lane:

3 states, a few bad haircuts, and six great years. and i'm proud of myself for sticking by last year's pledge for no more children in anniversary photos. ;) i love you, b!