Date Night

One thing that has kept me and Michelle going through a year of pandemic, homeschooling, work from home, Church responsibilities, and house projects is date night. Our older kids reached the magical age where they can babysit about a year and a half ago, so it's more doable financially, and we now go out every single Friday. It's the absolute best. 

We have eaten at a lot of yummy places over the year, most of them sitting in the blue car in a parking lot. Some of our favorites have been Slap Fish in Farmington, El Pollo Loco, Hook and Reel, Crown, Taste of India, Lucky Slice, Pad Thai, and Cafe Sabor. Least favorite is a tie between Taco Time and Rumbi Island Grill (but the latter doesn't really count because Michelle was sick and ordered white rice, macaroni salad, and unseasoned shrimp). We didn't eat inside a restaurant for more than a year, but a couple weeks ago we got reservations at our favorite place, Rooster's. We ate in a booth and ordered round after round of their home-brewed root beer. It was exotic and memorable and wonderful. After getting gift cards earlier in the year, we got takeout from P. F. Changs and Texas Roadhouse and made those special occasions by sneaking back to the basement and setting up a fancy dining experience with lamps, portable heaters, and tablecloth-covered homeschool desks. We also found a secluded picnic table at Layton's "duck park" and had some memorable outings there.

When the weather allows, we've done a lot of hiking, running, and trail running. Our go-to is Fernwood, but we've been down to Hobbs and have also run on the rail trail. One evening we explored Farmington Bay and saw sandhill cranes, blue herons, harriers, tundra swans, and a barn owl. 

One memorable Friday night after getting a stimulus check, we moseyed down to the Lifetime store and dropped a huge chunk of change on a swing set we plan to have our grandkids play on one day. But dates doesn't have to be anything special. As the poet and philosopher Daniel Tiger said, "It doesn't matter what we do. I just like to be with you." Last Friday, we looped back to the house and pulled weeds in the front beds while listening to oldies on a bluetooth speaker. For several weeks, our go-to date was to pick up Panda Express, eat it in our special spot in the Burlington parking lot, run errands at Lowes and Target, and head home. The stuff of romance novels maybe it is not, but I tell you what, I wouldn't trade those evenings for anything. Just having the opportunity to catch up on each other's lives, laugh or complain a little, revel in the fact that no one is asking anything of us or even knows where we are, is plenty to keep me going for another week.

The kids don't mind one bit. When Emmie finds out it's Friday, her face lights up and she exclaims, "Movie night!" (We're pretty sure she thinks the Disney Plus app on Roku is called "movie night," in fact.) We leave just about the time the mac and cheese or frozen pizzas are done, and the kids serve it, eat, "clean it up," and take turns picking a movie each week. They pop an insane amount of popcorn, which Emmie invariably dumps all over the family room rug at some point. And then when the movie is over and we're not home yet, they fire up episodes of Phineas and Ferb until we walk in the door and put them to bed.

Coda: This is not a date with Michelle, but I want to document that me and Emmie went on the classic Layton Hills Mall date to ride elevators and escalators plus eat an ice cream cone, and that girl can put away an ice cream cone! We sat there for 25 minutes while she downed every last bite. She's gotten faster since then and can now hold her own with her older siblings' pace. When we have ice cream at home, she always, always asks for seconds and, if the opportunity arises, thirds. I want to do a scientific experiment one of these days and see how many helpings it would take before she called it quits. If she ever did.