Celebrating our 5th Anniversary

August 18, 2012 was our fifth wedding anniversary! This also happened to be the first day we were in Pennsylvania, after spending a night in a hotel with all our children in the room, and then driving 10 hours. Surprisingly, the baby was the worst one to settle down in the hotel room. He thought that having all of us sleepover together was the perfect opportunity for him to stand in his crib and chatter at us... for hours. But thankfully, by 10pm everyone was able to go to sleep. And that lasted until 4:30am when the baby woke up and commenced with more chatter. I nursed him and tried to get him back to sleep, but by 6am I gave up, and everyone else was awake, so I just gave up and got dressed and actually made pancakes in our tiny kitchenette room. Daddy and I got to split the driving, which was great since we were exhausted. But one other perk was that the kids were tired too, so it was the quietest drive ever and someone was always asleep in the car!
So needless to say, we did not have the time or energy to make many anniversary plans. But my husband surprised me that morning with a gorgeous bouquet of blue flowers (my favorite color), and even incorporated decorative pieces of twisted wood, since wood is the traditional gift for the 5th anniversary. He's a very thoughtful guy! :-) We also did some quick Google searches and decided to spend this Anniversary the same way we spent our first: at a Murder Mystery Dinner. We were lucky to get tickets for a show that night about an hour away in York County. It was a great choice, and we had an amazing time!
Bube's Brewery was originally built in the 1870's as a Victorian-era hotel/tavern/brewery. After Prohibition in the 1920's, it remained one of the only such buildings in the area. The building itself is really cool, with tons of Victorian details and original brewing equipment. But the dinner show was the main event, and it did not disappoint!
We were greeted by several actors in 1870's garb who seated us in tiny dining rooms at a table with 10 other guests. We were in the Peacock Room, which reminded me of a room I saw in the DC art museum once. We were encouraged to get up and go into the parlor for drinks and appetizers, and met the rest of the actors there. We also discovered several 'clues' on scraps of paper tucked into mirrors and behind paintings. Meanwhile, the actors selected a few random guests to don hats and become the fire chief, a big game hunter, the mayor's wife, and a local wealthy widow. I was sad not to be selected, because I would have totally enjoyed getting into character, while some of the guests seemed confused and not willing to play along. We learned that tonight was the Grand Opening of Bube's Brewery, and all the local bigwigs had gathered for the event. But when we were seated back in our rooms for soup and salad, we witnessed loud discussions in the hallways and learned that everyone at the hotel had a rocky past and a tendency towards violence. The actors wandered into our rooms and chatted with us, which was great fun. My husband and I were on the end of our table, so we got to ask the most questions and try to learn about the characters. We had a very fun and interactive table, with a mixture of locals and visitors from far away. I gave pregnancy advice to the starlet, and we almost got involved in a hops investment scheme! But then, just before the main course, the mayor was shot! We didn't expect him to be the one to die, so it took most of dinner to sort out a motive and which culprit did not have an alibi. But I guessed it. :-) After dessert we were summoned back into the parlor and the police chief revealed the rest of the clues, and exposed the criminal. It was SO refreshing to get away for a night, pretend to enter another time, share some laughs, eat some good food, and just have fun together without our children. I would totally recommend Murder Mystery dinners to anyone!
In case anyone is curious, here is how we have spent our anniversaries so far:
First Anniversary: In DC, first child was 3 months old, we went to a Murder Mystery show with an Irish wake theme.
Second Anniversary: in North Carolina, pregnant with 2nd child, went to dinner in Wilmington NC
Third Anniversary: in North Carolina, husband just back from deployment, went to Duck's restaurant in Jacksonville
Fourth Anniversary: in North Carolina, husband was deployed and our 3rd child was born one week later, but he sent me an Edible Arrangement to get me through the end of the pregnancy
Fifth Anniversary: described above. :-)

Hopefully there will be many more memorable anniversaries to celebrate together. Maybe for the next one we should go to Paris???