Kim and Ryan's Wedding: Carrie and I's 5-Year Anniversary!

The weekend may be about Kim and Ryan, but Carrie and I had plenty to celebrate beforehand! 

We were married on June 27th five years ago in front of our family and friends. We'd already been married privately on June 9th, but that's a whole different story (and one that Carrie likes to milk to get two celebrations for the price of one).

This year, we were off my home turf. Carrie knew the lay of the land, loves to research and loves surprises, so she scheduled everything. I married so well!

First up, Carrie drove us out to the Village Greens Miniature Golf Course.

Carrie has a lot of memories of this course. She used to always visit it with her Pa.

It's been 14 years since she's putted here.

The trees made for beautiful sun cover. It felt like high 80s to 90s in the sun, but the entire course was shrouded in shade.

My ginger-yet-daywalker skin really appreciated it. I already had tan lines on my feet!

Long post, huh? It's not done yet. Check out the waterfall!

Carrie was a natural.

I was not.

I started to catch on by the end. The last time I remember playing mini-golf was over 15 years ago in Beaumont! I lost by six strokes on 23 holes when it was all said and done. The important thing was I enjoyed the whole experience!

Sports Illustrated once labeled the Village Greens as one of the top mini golf courses in the States. I read the article framed in the ice cream shop.

We, also, ate Turkey Hill ice cream at the ice cream shop. We drove past the factory on the other side of town on the way in!

Carrie did not stop with planning one outing. Our second stop involved one of her passions: mopeds.

"Meep-Meeps!" is Carrie for moped. She always get's excited when she says it, too.

Our tour guide wore a "Just Another Sexy Bald Guy" T-shirt and led a caravan of six of us through Amish Country for the next two hours.

The scenery was beautiful. Green everywhere; farms everywhere. Carrie smiled when we got our first whiff of cow. She calls it nostalgic. I call it an acquired taste (don't literally taste it). I happen to be fine with the smell.

Whenever we scooted by a group of Amish working in the fields they'd wave to us. The children would often yell "Beep! Beep!" and motion for us to honk our horns. I remember one boy sprinting out of his house and yelling it from inside his covered porch. It's amazing how much more you hear when you're not in a car.

The farm life was front and center. There were cows everywhere and we even passed a deer farm and a pen full of miniature horses. There were some Amish children with a pint-sized horse wagon drawn by a pint-sized horse, too! It must have taken my wife an act of tremendous will power not to swerve off the road and run over to them. She had the biggest grin when she looked over her shoulder at me.

Carrie really enjoyed all of the horses. When we stopped, she'd comment on the "action in their knees" and the "elasticity" in their step. I never had a clue of what she meant. She was impressed, so that's all that counts. One horse was afraid to walk past our mopeds. The driver hopped out bare-footed. He led the horse past and then had to hop back up as the carriage started to pick up speed.

The mopeds were a lot of fun. I didn't realize how long we had been out at first. There was one scary moment when one of the ladies lost control in some gravel and skidded out. There was a steep drop off into a creek. Thankfully, she didn't go that far off the road. She ended up with some scrapes and blood on her arms, but the moped worked and she got back on (props!). The rest of the tour was a little slower. She was still shaky.

Shortly after the wreck, our bald tour-guide extraordinaire stopped us at a covered bridge. He gave us a history lesson and asked, "Who wants to have some fun?"

I guess he didn't know who he was talking to!

The guide was good with a camera. He switched to burst shot and suggested some action shots.

The tour guide also talked everyone into getting silhouette shots on the bridge.

I asked him if he liked photography. "I like having fun!" was his answer.

We had a half an hour journey back once we hopped on the mopeds. When we came upon a carriage full of kids, our guide pulled up parallel and coached the Amish kids to yell, "Happy Anniversary!" when Carrie rode by.

I'd highly recommend the tour to anyone; Our tour guide in specific.

When we made it back, Carrie revealed our next stop: the Iron Horse Inn. Our moped tour was part of a date night special. We were given a coupon for $20 worth of food and drinks!

We spent the last part of our night on the porch eating and watching fireflies as the sun dipped down. There were a ton of the little guys. Their lights really showed up, because the night sky was much darker in Strausberg than where we have street lights, cars, and houses everywhere.

It's a different pace and style of life. There are plenty of attractive elements to it. I find the Amish interesting, too. I could write a whole different post on them!

The end of it is: Carrie and I really enjoyed our night out. It wouldn't have been possible without Grandma and Grandpa watching Shane.

So far this vacation had everything in it to be considered a success in my mind...and it was only the first night!