Fruit and Flowers

Today is the Mammen family fourth anniversary and we spent it just exactly that way, as a family. Sam came home early from work and we immediately rushed Zayd to the zoo to see the hippos he had been clamoring for all day. (To be specific, while the Mahncke Mamas had taken our tots to tour a fire station this morning, all Zayd could ask about was the hippos!)
Snakes, hippos, and the tiny tot nature spot where Zayd proved himself and expert magnet fisherman. By then, the 97°sunny evening meant we were ready for dinner.
We headed to the luxury, a new celebrity chef hipster joint that sells gourmet food in a backyard setting, perfect! You'll never guess what they gave us to mark our order...a giant rubber hippo. I kid you not.
Our food was pretty good but the company was fantastic. Zayd had a great time. He played with the hippo, chased ducks, and sifted through the pea gravel floor. Zahra splashed in the water puddle hippo had spilled on the table.
Sam and I haven't settled on exactly what we'll do to mark our anniversary when we enjoy memorial day off without our kids. We both immediately thought Fredericksburg(!) when we heard that this anniversary is traditionally celebrated with fruit and flowers, but it just isn't in the cards for us to escape without any of kiddoes yet. Zahra is too young.
But honestly, today was enough. Today was great. Someday Sam and I will make it back to the wineries in Fredericksburg, and we'll remember how for our fourth anniversary we couldn't imagine escaping. And well laugh about how far we've come.