Not a date night - a date DAY! Matthew and I got to spend almost a whole day together enjoying each others company which is so rare that I cant remember the last time we spent so much quiet time together. It was really nice.
A month ago we had watched Riley overnight for my sister and brother in law, so this weekend it was their chance to return the favor. We felt like Rowan is still a bit to young for an overnight stay, so we agreed on them watching the kids from 11am to 8pm so that we could do some shopping, see a movie and have a nice dinner together. The kids were very excited about the whole thing, because they would get to spend the day with their cousin Riley, and Michelle's new puppy...I don't know which they were more excited about ;)
Matthew and I dropped them off and went to the movie theater down the road to watch Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. The movie was good, but I had a hard time following the story at first. Apparently I am the only person in the world that didn't know that the story was about Alice going back to wonderland...so it was completely different than I was expecting. Seeing it in 3-D was really cool - the Cheshire cat was amazing, and the actors did a wonderful job, especially Johnny Depp and whoever played the Queen - I loved her huge head and teeny body!
Buuuuuut....it just wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I was a little disappointed. Matthew loved it though, so I still consider it a win!
When the movie was over we did a little shopping. We drove out to a place called Mirador in Portland, it a little hippie shop that sells a lot of kitchen stuff. I had fun drooling over everything, especially the clay roasting pans. I want one! Then we went out to Milkwaukie to Bobs Red Mill. Coolest place ever if you love to bake. We had lunch there, and did a little shopping - I found a dough bucket so I can finally try out my Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day recipes, and we picked up a few other treasures as well. Its a long drive, but I would love to get back there more often, and Matthew and I were talking about taking the kids on a tour of the mill this summer. They also have classes on all sorts of baking topics, like how to make bread, crackers and homemade pasta. I am definitely going to sign up for a few of those!
We had planned on going out to Tigard to check out the Stash Tea retail store, but they closed at 4 so we didn't quite make it. We headed home to veg out for a while before our dinner reservation at 6. We swung by the library to pick up a book I had on hold, and I couldn't help but laugh. We had a whole day to ourselves and we were running errands like picking up books? We are so out of practice at this free time stuff ;)
For dinner we went to Outback Steakhouse to use a gift card that Tanya and Steve had given us a couple months ago. It was nice to have someone wait on us, and to not have to clean up after but the food wasn't that great, and it was really crowded there. I don't think we will be going back again...not that we go out to eat more than a few times a year anyways!
We went and picked up the kids, who had seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. They went to a park and played for a while, and had a picnic lunch, and Rowan and Michelle made chocolate chip cookies together while Killian and Riley built a model ship. Its really nice to not have to worry about the kids, and to feel safe about who they are with. I missed them a lot though, and was happy to get them picked up and headed home.
It was a wonderful day, and I am looking forward to Matthew and I trying to squeeze more dates into our life. I really enjoy his company. He is such a fun person to be around, and I feel so lucky to be able to have the opportunity to date him again. Although...he doesnt open the door for me anymore, like he did on our first dates. He is going to have to start working on that ;)
A month ago we had watched Riley overnight for my sister and brother in law, so this weekend it was their chance to return the favor. We felt like Rowan is still a bit to young for an overnight stay, so we agreed on them watching the kids from 11am to 8pm so that we could do some shopping, see a movie and have a nice dinner together. The kids were very excited about the whole thing, because they would get to spend the day with their cousin Riley, and Michelle's new puppy...I don't know which they were more excited about ;)
Matthew and I dropped them off and went to the movie theater down the road to watch Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. The movie was good, but I had a hard time following the story at first. Apparently I am the only person in the world that didn't know that the story was about Alice going back to wonderland...so it was completely different than I was expecting. Seeing it in 3-D was really cool - the Cheshire cat was amazing, and the actors did a wonderful job, especially Johnny Depp and whoever played the Queen - I loved her huge head and teeny body!
Buuuuuut....it just wasn't as good as I was hoping for. I was a little disappointed. Matthew loved it though, so I still consider it a win!
When the movie was over we did a little shopping. We drove out to a place called Mirador in Portland, it a little hippie shop that sells a lot of kitchen stuff. I had fun drooling over everything, especially the clay roasting pans. I want one! Then we went out to Milkwaukie to Bobs Red Mill. Coolest place ever if you love to bake. We had lunch there, and did a little shopping - I found a dough bucket so I can finally try out my Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day recipes, and we picked up a few other treasures as well. Its a long drive, but I would love to get back there more often, and Matthew and I were talking about taking the kids on a tour of the mill this summer. They also have classes on all sorts of baking topics, like how to make bread, crackers and homemade pasta. I am definitely going to sign up for a few of those!
We had planned on going out to Tigard to check out the Stash Tea retail store, but they closed at 4 so we didn't quite make it. We headed home to veg out for a while before our dinner reservation at 6. We swung by the library to pick up a book I had on hold, and I couldn't help but laugh. We had a whole day to ourselves and we were running errands like picking up books? We are so out of practice at this free time stuff ;)
For dinner we went to Outback Steakhouse to use a gift card that Tanya and Steve had given us a couple months ago. It was nice to have someone wait on us, and to not have to clean up after but the food wasn't that great, and it was really crowded there. I don't think we will be going back again...not that we go out to eat more than a few times a year anyways!
We went and picked up the kids, who had seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. They went to a park and played for a while, and had a picnic lunch, and Rowan and Michelle made chocolate chip cookies together while Killian and Riley built a model ship. Its really nice to not have to worry about the kids, and to feel safe about who they are with. I missed them a lot though, and was happy to get them picked up and headed home.
It was a wonderful day, and I am looking forward to Matthew and I trying to squeeze more dates into our life. I really enjoy his company. He is such a fun person to be around, and I feel so lucky to be able to have the opportunity to date him again. Although...he doesnt open the door for me anymore, like he did on our first dates. He is going to have to start working on that ;)