Charlie & Michelle

A few months ago Charlie and I decided we wanted to go visit Josh, Katie, Cora and Edee in Washington. One, we had never been there and two, after seeing multiple cute pictures of the kids on Instagram we couldn't take it any more and needed to see the kiddos in person. We decided going around Halloween might be particularly fun because we knew the kids would have costumes. I didn't get any pictures of them in their full outfits but Cora was running (flying) around in her red Owlet costume and Edee had a pretty stinking cute sheep hat.

I mean how do you resist this face? We flew out on a Friday night for the weekend trip. We started Saturday morning off with a great hike to Wallace Falls. We weren't sure that we were going to fit in a hike because of the weather but despite showery forecasts its held off from heavy showers. It was damp but really nothing to complain about. Katie had gotten a babysitter for the kids so we were able to go just adults and that was a nice touch because the hike would have been little too much for the kiddos.

We were bundled up but by minute 15 i think we were all sweating and stripped down to just the rain jackets.

It was a beautiful hike! The trail wasn't too crowded and we got to see the falls. It felt like quintessential Pacific North West, or excuse me, #pnw as Katie taught me :)

There was great photo opportunities, one after another!

Serene and breathtaking.

Naturally after the hike we had to get some food! We went to a breakfast bakery that had awesome desserts (wouldn't expect anything less from my sister-in-law :). We ended up with huge sandwiches and 4-5 different treats that were so rich with chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate, pastry that I can't identify them by a name. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it but I shall not forget that meal!

Next it was time to head home to play with the kids and take them on a fairy ride.

The lighting out proved to be another good setting for lots of photo opps.

I know what everyone is thinking, "Charlie and Michelle, when are you guys going to have kids?"

Love our family!

Both of those kids stole my heart but Edee is at such a sweet age! She can't quite talk too much but is just so animated it was melting us.

We had a lot of fun with Cora too. She has such a good temperament and is such great big sister. During the reunion there were so many kids around that we really didn't get any time with her, because lets face it, Grandma and Grandpa have such a great house that they wouldn't notice if all the adults left for a week...So it was good for her to get to play with us and vice a versa. I want her to know who her Uncle Charlie and Aunt Michelle are!

We got some height on this one!

My handsome husband.

This cutie!!

After our fairy ride we went to get some dinner, we decided on a Mexican restaurant that was pretty dang good!

Josh had to go to work the next day so after dinner we went back to the house and hung out a little bit more. We were all pretty full and tired.

Sunday Katie took us into Seattle and we took the kids to a really neat park and fountain.

After the kids got to run around a little it was time to say goodbye to Katie and the kids. The rest of the day Charlie and I had planned to go explore the city.

The first thing we did was check out the space needle and the joining glass museum.

Obligatory selfies at the top of the needle.

We hung out at the top of the needle for about an hour, sipping a beer and taking in the view.

Next we headed to this awesome glass museum. My brother Pavel had sent me a photo of it right before we left and I wasn't sure if we would be able to go see it or where it was for that matter. It turned out when you bought tickets for the needle for a few extra dollars you can purchase tickets to go to this museum!

Lots of really cool stuff!

After the museum we headed to find a bar that was playing the Chargers game and get a little food. We explored their main street a bit, caught some of the game and then headed to walk along the wharf. There was all types of seafood stands, shops, and viewpoints. We had a lot of fun just walking around and exploring.

We were hungry for some dinner and it took us a while to figure out where to go. I think we walked for an hour and finally almost settled on an Irish bar type of place. We were looking at the menu outside and a guy (who we originally thought was a bouncer) started saying you wanna go somewhere thats really good? Not this corporate bull$hit. Well the hell are you suppose to say to that except sure man? So he actually directed us to this little Irish place that was pretty good.

I had Shepards pie, soda bread, salad and wine. We had a few hours before we needed to be at the airport so we took our time with a nice meal and some wine. It was really a nice way to cap off the trip. We were exhausted when we got home but it was such a great weekend.

Thanks to our wonderful hosts, love you guys!

Until next time Seattle...

Yes we did it, we eloped! Not a shotgun wedding or the traditional eloping because our friends an family knew about it but we packed our bags, our cheap wedding clothes and flew to Las Vegas to officially tie the knot a few months before our ten year anniversary.

We had 10 friends join us for the special occasion. We honestly didn't expect anyone to show up, we just started telling people and all our friends started saying they would come and celebrate (any excuse to go to LV ;-) Charlie and I decided to go all out and rented a suite at the Palazzo. I don't really have any pictures that I took of the suite but there are a lot circulating around that friends have taken which will be posted in the next blog. We got in Vegas on a Thursday night, checked in, and just walked around. We ordered room service and prepared ourselves for the next morning to go get our marriage license and do our consultation at the venue where we would be having the ceremony (conveniently located within walking distance). Our nerves were pretty good until walking into the Marriage Bureau, then i think my stomach started to turn a little bit..After it took all but five minutes to get the documents we held our consultation. We did it on an outdoor patio as you will see in the pictures. By the time we were going back to the hotel room I was all messed up, not doubtful nerves just nerves in general! We went to lunch and our friends started rolling in. The Czech in me had to have a few beers to calm myself and it did the trick! After that we went to the pool for a few hours and that was really nice. Then it was time to get ready. Charlie and I got ready together...Very untraditional but we didn't care.

The ceremony was really nice and a little quirky. Because it was being live streamed we had to stand a very particular way and the officiator was behind all of our friends who were seated. We were worried that he was going to be a little dull or Elvis! Luckily he was a really nice down to earth fellow. Charlie and I decided not to write our own vows but when we did a "rose exchange" he opened it up for us to say something. Well we were so nervous and weren't expecting it we just stared at each other. Then I said "Miluji tě" which is Czech for I love you and he responded "Te Amo" which is Spanish for I love you too. Yup thats all we could think of..Ha! After about three times of Charlie saying "I do" it was official. We were wed! The first song we heard as a married couple was "Kitty's Rumba" which was composed by my Dad for my step mom Kitty. We wanted something lively that would make everyone get up and move. The whole things was very special and I was overwhelmed with how much love we felt from our friends, family, and each other.

There are a lot of pictures but these are the ones we received from the photographer. I will do another post with others later but wanted to get this one on the board!