Six years

Rod and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary Saturday. What better way to celebrate than a day at the beach?

Not wanting to spend the whole day in the car, we opted for Mukilteo Lighthouse Park (about 30 minutes away), with views of Whidbey, Camano, and Hat Islands, the Port of Everett, Mt. Baker and the Olympic Mountain Range.

Since the ferry terminal is right at the park, we saw ferries coming and going across the water to Whidbey Island.

When we first got there I wanted to take an anniversary picture. So I propped the camera on a log, set the timer, and ran.

Attempt #1:

Attempt #2:

Attempt #3: (our favorite. I had to photoshop this one. It was so tilted it made me seasick.)

Trains chugged along the seaside

Lots of comings and goings

The day started out a little gray and we weren't sure whether we'd get a few rain showers, but luckily it cleared up and was sunny and quite warm by about 2pm.

I had to launch myself to get on and off that rock. Luckily there were no action shots. haha

Since the lighthouse was open, we decided to take a little tour.

Nice view from the top

After coming back down, we toured through the grounds, gift shop and boathouse

At this point it was about time for lunch, so we walked over next to the ferry terminal and decided to share a 5-piece fish and chips and cup o' chowda from the ever popular Ivars.

Sorry for the weird angle. I was trying to hold the camera & scoop a bite of chowder in a very small booth. The fish and chips were SOOO good! I'm not usually a huge fan of fish and chips, but this was amazing. Wow. And the clam chowder was delish as well.

And what better way to top it off than a yummy bulging swirled chocolate/vanilla cone?

With our stomaches nice and full, we headed back over and walked on the beach to find a good place to put up our feet. The flowers were so pretty on the grounds.

(why do I always make him pose for photos like these? He's such a good sport)

I've always loved tug boats. Reminds me of a book my mom used to read us as kids.

Ah. Perfect spot. We settled here.

Of course I had to take one of those hand-held crazy shots.

And before we knew it, it was about time to head back.

I love seeing the lighting change with the sun's shift. Colors get so much richer. I would have liked to take more pictures with this newly found lighting, but alas, it was time to go.

What a wonderful anniversary at the beach with my sweetheart. It was nice to get away and just be together.

Six full, enriching years have passed...here's to many, many more.

xoxo