Killing the 7 Year Itch

I never knew about the 7 year itch until I married Eric. Whenever people would make jokes about marriage being hard work, or laughingly tease us newlyweds about whether or not we would "make it," Eric would respond with something funny about the "7 year itch." Apparently, the 7th year is supposed to be rough, and if you make it through, you've really accomplished something.

However, the 7th year (which we celebrated July 13th) has been the best yet. And as I've been told many times, it does seem to just get better. Of course, we can only owe our happiness and increasing joy to God's kindness on us!

Anyway, we had a little getaway to commemorate this anniversary. Here are 10 highlights of our trip-

10. Dinner at VaBene- a tiny Italian cafe overlooking lake Superior, but out of the way of the rest of the touristy stuff. We sat on the deck as the sun set behind the hills above the lake. The food was good, and we were relaxed... dinner out with no kiddos! Afterward, we strolled the beach and enjoyed the quiet lake.

9. Playing Mancala on the dimly lit front porch of our B&B. Finally a game that we both like, and like playing together! Eric and I have distinctly different opinions about board games, so we've never really latched onto a "together" game... until now.

8. Watching the Obama Deception on the laptop while sitting together (briefly, until Eric got uncomfortable) in a huge bath tub. Never done that before!

7. Breakfast in our room, arriving outside our door in a big, inviting wicker basket. A nice change of pace from the formal dining room at most B&Bs. We ate delicious herbed baked eggs, rosemary potatoes, fruit salsa, muffins, coffee, and juice at a leisurely pace looking out at a sunny morning.

6. Our cozy, comfortable room. We could have spent half the day just lounging and doing "nothing" here.

5. Canal Park in Duluth. I always enjoy a stroll out to the lighthouse and watching the lift bridge rise for passing ships and boats.

4. The Glensheen Mansion is a historic home along Lake Superior, complete with it's own murder mystery and amazing display of woodwork and interior design. We very much enjoyed the tour, then spent an hour or so walking the grounds and taking in the natural beauty.

3. We stayed at the Firelight Inn, a beautiful old home up on the hill in Duluth. Our hosts were wonderful and as I mentioned above, the breakfast was absolutely delish!2. Being 27 weeks pregnant. It was fun seeing people's responses when they found out this was our 7th anniversary, and I wasn't pregnant with the first baby girl, but the third! It was less fun huffing and puffing around and having to find a restroom 7 times in one day :).

1. All the things I didn't take pictures of (mostly because Eric started to find the camera a little bothersome) like lunch on the deck of Grandma's in Canal Park, wandering through galleries, sitting on a bench by the fountain people watching and talking, and just being together. I think we enjoyed being with each other more on this trip than we ever have before. Thank you Eric for planning it, and thank you God for keeping our hearts together!