Date 11 of 52: Living Room Campout

It's been awhile since we had a really involved date, so when one of Brian's teacher's gave an extension on this week's homework assignment, I jumped at the chance.  A little extra free time means date time!

We have been talking a lot about camping and actually just bought a bigger tent to accommodate our growing family.  All four of us have been camping in a little 2 person tent.  It was pretty big for a backpacking tent, but getting a little snug for a family of 4.  I had camping on the brain and decided to dig out the old tent and camp in our living room.  

I wanted to recreate the most important parts of camping; a bonfire, s'mores, the great outdoors, and good company.  Earlier in the day I gathered all the fixings for s'mores, a can of Sterno cooking fuel, decks of cards, miniature wildlife figures...

While Brian put the kids to bed I set up camp.  I used our large brown doormat to simulate the ground in front of our tent and made a "fire ring" with some large stones from the backyard.  I put a Sterno can in the middle of our fire ring and lit a match.  It was actually a pretty good indoor campfire.  It even crackled a bit.  I brought all our house plants into the living room and placed them around the tent for that outdoor feeling and scattered some rubber frogs, snakes, and lizards about the camp site.

Brian came down and I was using one of our fondu forks to roast a marshmallow over our roaring campfire.  He loved it and quickly started roasting one of his own.  We sat around the fire for awhile, munching on s'mores, drinking Shirley Temples, and talking.  Sitting around a Sterno can just isn't the same as sitting around a real campfire, so I was prepared with some other outdoor themed entertainment, the movie The Great Outdoors.  What's not to love about John Candy and Dan Aykroyd?

Raging Campfire

Our campsite was infested with snakes, lizards, and frogs!

We settled into our tent to watch the movie and munched away on other camp snacks.  I admit, in the end,  we did head upstairs to sleep in our bed rather than "rough it" in the living room, but we still had a great camping experience.

Date 10 of 52: Charades

Woops!  This date actually came after our Valentine's Day dates, but I completely forgot to post it.

Brian has a crazy work load, so I have been trying to come up with quick dates we can do for a study break, something to give him a break from all the seriousness.  I decided to do a silly game of charades. I told Brian to write down 5 nouns on 5 pieces of paper, and I did the same.  Then I put them in a box and we took turns drawing slips of paper and acting them out...typical charades.

Brian had no idea what the words were for, so he just wrote down the first things that came his mind.  Turns out he had cars on the brain, so I ended up acting out wonderful things like gas and steering wheel.  I, of course, knew what they were for so Brian got to act out things like swimming, flipping pancakes, and mountain.  Oooooo, I really went crazy with those ones!  He wouldn't let me take his picture to show off his amazing acting talents.

I have to say this date was not my favorite, but had us both laughing in the end, so I guess it was a success. Brian went back to his studies with renewed vigor, ok maybe not...

Date 9 of 52: SPRING BREAK, Part 2

We spent just over a week in Florida and took full advantage of the live-in babysitters!  This time I chose a  place for dinner, again, just downtown from where Brian's parents live.  We drove Brian's mom's cute little convertible and just let the wind in our hair blow away all the stress of the day...dealing with two boys that were out of their routine, monsters!

The restaurant was right next to a lake.  The clouds were building, but the rain hadn't started so we took our chances and sat at a table out in the open next to the water.  We ate some of the best calamari I have ever had, watched the lightening off in the distance, and listened for the rumble of thunder.  By the time we ordered dinner it had started to rain so we moved to the next table over that was covered by a big umbrella.  That seemed to keep us dry enough.  We didn't want to lose our great view of the storm.

The thunder got louder and we talked about going home early since Owen is afraid of thunderstorms.  Brian assured me that Nana was good with storms and could handle it, so we continued to enjoy our dinner and a show.  Eventually the rain got too heavy and we had to move in under the restaurant's covered porch.  It was fun to eat outside listening to the pouring rain, watching the little Anoles(lizards) run for cover, and the water stream off the palm fronds.

By the time we finished dinner the storm had passed, and we took a stroll around the downtown area.  It is a rather touristy area so there was a lot of foot traffic even after the storm.  There was a certain magic in the air with the lights reflecting on the wet pavement, couples walking hand-in-hand, and little girls asleep on their Daddy's shoulders as they headed home for the night.  Corny, I know, but it really was so nice.  The only down side was the number of mosquito bites I received while at dinner, all on my ankles and tops of my feet!  Holy itch!

Once again we came home to two sleeping little boys who had miraculously turned back into sweet little angels.  Thank you again, Nana!

Date 8 of 52: SPRING BREAK!

We have been a bit behind on dates, NOT GIVING UP, just behind.  We found the perfect opportunity to catch up on a couple dates during Brian's spring break.  Plus, we got to go on "real" dates.  We went to Florida to visit Brian's family.  Family = Babysitters!

It was Brian's turn, and he chose a little wine bar in downtown Celebration, Florida.  The weather was warm, but not too hot.  We sat at a table out front on the side walk and enjoyed a glass of wine as we watched people and their dogs walking by.  I absolutely love people watching, so it was a really enjoyable relaxing time.  We continued with a light dinner and somewhat heavy conversation.  Maybe deep is a better word.  Heavy has a negative connotation in my mind.  It wasn't our goal to talk about our fundamental beliefs or anything, but it turned out to be a great reminder of how well suited we are for each other.  Anyway,  by the time we were finished with diner it was getting a little cold so we decided to head somewhere else a little warmer for dessert.

We ended up at  Celebration Tavern.  They had big heat discs out on their patio so we sat under one and did some more people watching.  As we were leaving we saw Brian's cousin sitting at the bar and decided to stay a little longer to chat with her.  It was great to catch up with family and have a good laugh.

When we got home, the boys were in bed.  We sneaked into their bedroom and kissed their little heads good night.  Ahhhhh, a very nice evening.  Thank you, Nana!