Twenty

Wednesday
Twenty years! Goodness it feels like forever and not long enough all at once. Many months ago Ken and I decided that if Andrew could watch the girls, we'd go away for a night. Andrew agreed and off we went.

First thing this morning we took the dog for a walk together.

And then there was a ridiculous thing... Ken finished his puzzle last night. I got a pick of him almost finished, but then I went upstairs before he did, and well, I never took a pic of the completed puzzle. And Ken being Ken didn't take a pic of the completed puzzle, and I realized as he was putting the puzzle away, that horror of horrors, there was no pic of the completed puzzle!?!?! I then contemplated a silly facebook post "no pic of the completed puzzle, re-considering my life choices, happy anniversary Ken?" but I decided against it, because of course it is silly and I LOVE MY KEN!

After feeding the girls lunch, and taking a few pics, we were off on our anniversary adventure.

Our first stop was to the temple. Unfortunately the only sessions on a Wednesday are first thing in the morning so that didn't work with our schedule, but I still wanted to go walk around and take some pics.

After the temple we were off to Alton, Ontario and the Millcroft Inn and Spa. It was so, so lovely. We almost went there five years ago, but I don't think they had availability by the time we were booking. We booked early this year. It was such a beautiful place!

We went into Orangeville for dinner at Forage. They had some yummy GF options yay, and we both enjoyed our dinners very much!

We walked around a little bit after dinner. Such pretty grounds!

Thursday
It was so nice this year, knowing the girls are older and can take care of themselves for a bit, to not have to rush back home. The grounds are extensive and there were a few hiking trails, so off we went into the woods!

We walked up to the pinnacle, which is a lookout, and then we were looking for this other trail, but we didn't know where it was exactly, so we just went down the hill in the snow, Ken thinking he was kind of following footprints. I wasn't exactly sure, but I've learned over the years not to question Ken's orienteering in the woods. In a city, I can direct, but in the woods, that's all Ken! So I followed, and Ken found the way through.

It was such a gorgeous day today, above freezing, the sun shining!

This was our private two person hot tub out the back door of our room. 

And here's the cute front door of our room!

This is one of the historic buildings that used to be a mill. It's a restaurant and there are hotel rooms too. We didn't actually go inside - well I supposed Ken went in to check in. Such pretty buildings!

On our walk through the woods we met a woman who lives in Alton walking her dog, and her friend's dog. She was really friendly and asked us if we had been to the Alton Mill which is now a gallery. We said we hadn't and she told us we should go, so we did.

It was originally a knitting mill, and then was later a rubber factory. It's a really large building and it is now a gallery. There are stores and a café on the main floor and there are event spaces and offices in the basement. There's also some history in the basement - some of the old equipment, and lots of things to read about the history.

On the second floor there are lots of different gallery rooms and so much art, lots of paintings, and some photography. I don't think we saw any artists there today, but it is very much a working gallery with artists in residence.

This funky little clutch purse was in one of the stores. I thought it was so fun and quirky. It was made of pop tabs. (I thought Alice would be amused by it, she just thought it was too weird.)

I bought some awesome deerskin mitts as my leather mittens are just about worn out. They are so pretty, and so soft and so warm!

We also bought this sweet little ornament to put on the tree.

At this point we were hungry, so we started looking for a place with GF options. And we found one, in Woodbridge, Schiroso. Ken had a veal sandwich and I had a chicken sandwich. So good!

Then it was back home. We got home and caught up with the girls - it's nice to be missed and appreciated. Fiona and I took Milo for a walk and Ken got dinner organized.

I asked Fiona if she wanted to just keep walking until we wanted to stop and she said sure. Ken agreed that he would come pick us up when we were done, so we walked! And then walked some more. When we were coming up to the memorial area at Harwood I kind of explained to Fiona where we were and she decided that she wanted to walk all the way to Rotary, so we did. We walked 4.2 kms! Way to go Fiona! (And Milo lol)

After dinner - choose your own adventure night - almost everyone had something different, we went out to Bowmanville and Old Scugog Road to check out the fun Christmas lights. I should have taken pics of the more intensely decorated houses, but by the time I remembered that's what I wanted to do, we'd already passed all the crazy ones!

I am so grateful for my little family. I'm so grateful for my Ken. I love being his partner. I love our life. I'm so thankful for him and for what we've built together. Happy Twentieth Anniversary My Love!