The first two were with a handsome artist type I was fortunate enough to have married 7 years ago. On our first date, we went to Au Cheval. We had to wait 45 minutes squished into a small corner near the bar, sipping our $12 Old Fashioneds. I only got through about $4 worth of mine and had to give it to Chris. I am a liquor drinker only in my imagination. The food, though, I consumed every penny's worth. Nothing like fancy bar food to turn this girl on: plenty of fries with eggs and cheese, matzo ball soup, chicken salad. We had a great time.
For our second date we completely left our comfort zone (bar food), and went to Vermillion to enjoy their latin-indian fusion fare. It was oh so delicious, but way too fancy for us. We felt like clumsy little kids playing grown-up. After dinner we enjoyed adult company at a fundraiser/auction held for the benefit of our girls' school. We didn't have a single extra penny to bid on anything (because we pay to send our girls to that school, hee hee) , but we drank free wine and ate free cake and watched everyone bid on really awesome stuff.
Chris and I were having a grand old time, reconnecting after the birth of our third child and months and months of his working 12 hour days, day after day. While we talked about how insanely difficult it was to carve out time together, we also began to realize that - even though we feel the constant presence of our children, wherever we go, no matter what the time of day - we don't get enough one on one time with Bela and Mae.
Some new dates were added to the calendar.
Two weekends ago Bela and I went on a date to Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. It was their Arbor Day Celebration weekend, and the place was teeming with visitors. We spent a good deal of the afternoon in the Children's Garden, where Bela spent most of her time "saving" tadpoles in the Toad Nursery from the other, less gentle children. But we also rode bikes, practiced cartwheels, and got a little turned around in their hedge maze.
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| a baby tadpole - hard to see |
Last weekend, Bela and Chris went on a road trip - a 7 hour journey from Chicago to Charm, Ohio to attend the open house for the farm camp Bela will be attending this summer. They ate road food, stayed in a hotel, held lambs at the farm, walked in the mud, and went fishing.
Mae is next.
It's so easy to forget that even though you see your children and spouse every day, sometimes you need to work really hard to carve out special time for just them. And it's always such a relief to realize that you still really really like your family, even if they drive you crazy the other 6 days of the week.
So thanks for the dates, guys. Looking forward to more.
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| Mae was super sick Saturday when Chris and Bela left, but Sunday she rallied and made me a pot of chili! Love that girl |
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