A Great Date Night

August 18, 2014 /

Date nights since having kids have been few and far between.  We’ve never had the privilege of living near family, so we’ve relied either upon the generosity of offers from friends or the occasional hired babysitter. I could probably count on both hands the number of times we’ve gone out on a date since Isabella was born, almost six years ago.  

Saturday night, one of Bradley’s classmates offered to watch all four of the kids!  She is a Mom herself, attending school here, and her family was unable to accompany her.  She misses her family, and was longing for the opportunity to be with children.  I can’t imagine being in her shoes, but I’m thankful that she was willing to hang out with our crew so we could have a much needed few hours to ourselves.  
It was a beautiful night, so we took the opportunity to try out a new restaurant that sits on one of the marinas in town.  We watched the boats coming in and out, dreamed of having our own yacht one day, speculated on the immense amount of wealth that this one little marina represented.
We sat in silence at times, reveling in the sheer wonder of it. 
We talked about the kids, about how this season of raising small children is hard but wonderful.  Time seems to be standing still in some ways, and we just want to capture every moment and hold onto these precious days.
We laughed about the fact that come Thursday, when Isabella starts school, our lives will forever be changed.  We agreed that it had been nice to not worry about education for the past five years.  And we secretly confessed our relief that someone else would be teaching her.  
We ate some good food.  Pommes frittes dipped in roasted red pepper aioli.  Filet mignon.  Fish tacos with mango salsa {my new-found favorite, and I’ve taken it upon myself to critique the fish tacos around town}.  The dessert menu wasn’t what we wanted, so we paid our bill and found another restaurant for dessert.  Key Lime pie and Tiramisu.
During one of the moments of silence, Bradley turned to me and said, “I need this.”  
The quiet, the break from the kids, being together just the two of us.  

That, in its most simplest form, is a great date night.

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