Date Night

I live for our weekly date night!  It is one of my favorite nights of the week.  As much as I love being home with my kiddos, I need that break to get away and Dave and I need that time together, just the two of us.  Our dates are usually simple, but I have made it a priority and I budget money specific for babysitters so we can leave weekly.  Sometimes, we go bowling or mini golfing, other times to a dollar movie.  Occasionally we go to dinner.  We try to do things creative.  Most importantly, we are together. 

Several weeks back, a friend of ours put together an "Amazing Race" date. 

This is a terrible picture, but it's all I've got.  This is our team just before we headed out on the first challenge. 

We all met at a central location and divided into teams.  There were four teams.  Basically, we each received clues and we had to solve the clues to find the next one.  Some were written in different languages, others were aerial pictures of a park and we had to figure out which park it was and go there.  There were also challenges.  One where a member of our team had to eat the contents of his bag (called a 'dining' challenge) which had a can of sardines, a Ziploc filled with marshmallows, a while clove of garlic, and pop rocks.  Another challenge where we each tied balloons to our ankles and tried to step on and pop the other teams balloons.  The team with the most balloons remaining un-popped at the end of the game won.   I don't remember how points were calculated, but we all had a great time chasing through town to try to be the winning team.  It was so much fun!  And it was a totally free date (except for paying the sitter). 

Back in May, another friend and I put together a second chance Prom.  Now, I won't say that Dave was jumping up and down about this one.  But I put him in charge of the music and that made him come.  But is was fun.  Even he would admit it.  The variety of our dates is what makes them fun.  We don't do the same things all the time. 

Last Friday when Dave got home from work, I told him that for our date, we were going to go to Kiwi Loco (a self-serve frozen yogurt place) and play board games.  He asked, "Long games? Or like Candyland?"  I think he was a little embarrassed.  We went to Arby's for dinner (I had a coupon for 2 meals for 8.99) and then we ran and picked up a few Christmas gifts.  Then, we went and served up our frozen yogurt and played games.  To Dave's surprise, there were even games there at the ice cream shop for people to play. I told him, "See, they want us to play games here!"  It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed visiting about our kids and their needs and our concerns for them. 
Sometimes dates are a good time to do assessments of your children.  Mostly, I think it is just good to take the time for the two of you.  And I think it sends a good message to our children that mommy and daddy and their relationship is important.