Day Dates: The New Friday Night

Since we don't have family in town and since I have a difficult time trusting strangers with our children, we don't go out much. That's why we were so excited to have the week off while daycare was still open. We used the much needed baby-free time to catch up on housework, but more importantly, we took the opportunity to go out on dates. On Monday, we went out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant in Davis and then saw the new Harry Potter movie. On Tuesday, we did some shopping at Old Navy, ate lunch at PF Chang's, and took a motorcycle ride to the Honda retailer to replace the battery in my bike. I got lucky while we were there--I bought a new helmet AND leather riding jacket for a total of $170. Many of you probably know that a good helmet can cost up to $250 and a decent leather jacket and run you upwards of $400, so I really feel like I got a great deal! It was a great early Christmas present!

By the end of the second day, I actually felt like a normal human again. It's been so long since I've had the opportunity to make decisions about what I want to do with my day, and it's so easy to take it for granted when you don't have children!

On Wednesday, we took the kids for holiday pictures at JC Penney first thing in the morning, and then they went to daycare again so that we could prepare for Thanksgiving. We cleaned the house, did the grocery shopping, and started on some of the prep work for the holiday cooking. This was the first year that we brined the turkey, and it turned out to be delicious! Jamie really needs to describe the process of preparing the turkey in detail because it really was an ordeal! At any rate, it was so worth it. It was easily the best turkey I've ever eaten.

Now that the long weekend is here, we get to spend some quality time with our beautiful children. The best part is that since we've taken some time to ourselves at the beginning of the week, we appreciate our time with them so much more. Now we just have to make it until the week before Christmas when we might get the chance to do a day date again. I'm smiling just thinking about it!