Ok, this post has been started and sitting in my drafts since February 16. Almost an entire damn month! I write these things out in my head and then get distracted by a toddler tantrum ready to blow at any second and a baby boy who is almost 1 and destroys any room he’s in within 25 seconds. I blink and almost a month has gone by! Even though we’re well into March I’m still going to share the amazing, nontraditional Valentine’s day we shared because it was so much fun…and celebrating fun after being together 10+ years (with a toddler and a baby!) is well worth it 🙂
Our ‘unconventional’ Valentine’s Day started February 1. Instead of doing baskets or candy for the kids, we decorated their bedroom doors. Each day, up until Valentine’s Day, they would get a heart put on their door with a reason that Dave and I loved them. Alex is obviously too young to understand, but we read his hearts to him & Caitlin loved hearing hers and helping decide where they should go. She would point up to her hearts and give me a hug and say “I love you too, momma” and it made my mommy heart turn to mush.
On to the date…I’m not a big Valentine’s Day “love” fan. I love LOVE and grand gestures – think Noah from The Notebook kind of stuff…but everything Valentine’s day is expensive, crowed, and usually pretty cheesy. So, when our initial plans were getting a heart shaped pizza (hahaha, cheesy…get it??) to eat at home with the kids and having some wine after bedtime, I was totally happy. Chill, cheap, and easy…my kind of night! The day before though, Dave came down from putting C to bed and said “What do you want to do tomorrow?” to which I replied with a blank stare and the mumbling of “I thought we were going to have pizza.” Turns out he had made plans with his mom for her to watch the kids so that we could go out. In an effort to avoid the expensive, cheesy, crowded gig we opted for something totally different.
Valentine’s Day: we dropped the kiddos off (thank you grandma!!! Seriously, this woman is not only the baby/toddler whisperer but such a full supporter of Dave and I getting out kid-free when possible) and headed to Topgolf. We had a giftcard so it hit the cheap ticket and it wasn’t crowded at all. We had a drink and an appetizer there while we laughed at how bad our golf game was.
When our time was up we decided to continue the fun and head over to the casino. Talking Stick is easily one of our favorite places but the opportunity go doesn’t appear very often. We grabbed some cash and wandered around trying to decide which Blackjack table to sit at. With $50 each we sat down at an empty table and within 15 minutes realized we each had $100 in chips so we cashed out and high-fived. Each of us could’ve easily stayed and played all night but considering we were both up, it just seemed fitting to call it a night and leave on a happy note.
Next, came our romantic dinner out at…are you ready?… In-N-Out. Not much else says love other than taking your wife out for her favorite burger and fries. Let’s just say it wasn’t packed with the Valentine’s Day crowd that I’m sure most other restaurants had but I didn’t care. It was delicious.
For the first time in a long time, our conversations didn’t revolve solely around our kids. Not that talking about your kids is in any way bad but connecting in other ways is crucial. There was no Valentine’s ‘stress’ over what we did and it was honestly one of the best dates we’ve gone on in a long time. It was just so simple – it felt like we were young again and just out having fun and there isn’t much that beats that feeling.
Glitter & Goldfish 