Let's be Kids Again...

In continuation of exploring new date night ideas, I had become inspired with the concept of building a blanket fort. I wanted it to be a surprise for Sam so I scrambled to get it ready before he arrived home from work one evening.

I borrowed majestic, black lanterns from mom and an old black and white film, Casablanca, from Ash. Our movie snack items included sugar cookies, dark chocolate covered almonds, bubbly wine, and Trader Joe's wasabi seaweed snack (this is a staple for Sam and I whenever we watch a movie).

Once Wells was sleeping soundly, we hurried upstairs to begin our blanket fort movie adventure. It was a blast and enough fun that we left the fort up for weeks.

   

  

More snap-shots...

There's a new coffee shop in town called Fuel! It's really great. Sam and I spent a few hours there last week. 

They have a fun assortment of games to choose from. We played battleship... I was winning the whole time until the end when Sam pulled a fast one on me. Apparently, he's played battleship a time or two more than I have. Either that, or he's just much more cunning than I am. :) 

I ordered a London Fog Tea Latte...smooth and comforting on a fall evening. 

I snapped these two photos of Bry's birthday cookout. We actually ended up moving the party to the deck (where Ash & Bry have amazing twinkly lights and curtains set up) because the wood was too damp to generate a decent fire. I think mosquitos were beginning to prowl on us too. 

We went with Garrison to the Feast of The Hunter's Moon. It was a ton of fun despite the near freezing temperature and slight drizzle. We capitalized on layers and filled up on warm food to survive.

I think this smoked turkey leg ushered Wells into man-hood. ;)

We warmed ourselves with fresh beer at Star City Coffee after

Wells in awe of the dessert display

 While hanging out at mom and dad's last weekend, Poppy emerged from the basement completely decked out in this stunning ensemble. She declared that she was going to "pretend" marry Sam.

 

Snap-shots of life

1. Kodiak Cakes.

I discovered a really great pancake mix from a blogger that Andria follows. Her life intrigued me and she raved about these power cakes that are packed full of protein. We quite like them and the easy protein option they are...plus, I was able to find them at Target. :)

Kodiak cakes also adds proceeds to preserving the grizzlies like that lil guy (or more like ferocious beast) on the box right there. You'd think they would  have chosen a more friendly looking bear...I'm not really feeling a strong desire to protect that.  

  

Wells enjoys them. :)

2. Essie & Abby visit.
We spent hours playing Monopoly, sipped hot tea, enjoyed the Farmers Market Saturday morning, and spent time at Starry Night Festival Saturday evening.

We unexpectedly ran into Bry, Ash, and their girls. Delightful. :)

We bought some of these...mostly because of their cute name. :) I'm sure they have bounteous health benefits?
I just did some quick research and looks like they certainly do. 

This right here is why I'm addicted to the farmers market.  The fresh fruit and vegetables are also pretty wonderful. 

3. Avo Gutwein's birthday & Adam's football game at Butler University.
We headed to Indy to celebrate Avo at an extremely charming little park and then joined some friends and cousins to watch Adam Sauder play football.

There was an hour interruption due to rain and lightning. We ended up having a snack at a cute coffee shop in Broad Ripple.

The Schafer boys and Luke coming to the football game was the best part for me. :) They upped the enthusiasm significantly!

Date night Success.

Date nights are very important for both parents and non-parents alike. Sam and I have been realizing this more than ever so we've tried to set aside time to make them happen (thanks to Ash/Bry & Mom/Dad for watching Wells). We still go on dates far less than we'd like to but at least it's on our radar and more of a priority than before.

About a month or two ago Sam set up a babysitter for Wells on a Saturday and we went jogging together on beautiful trails right outside of Purdue. He had packed a picnic lunch as a surprise and we feasted after. The picnic included sushi, hummus, pita chips, fruit, sparkling wine, and cheese. Divine. :)

The jogging and picnic extravaganza was great, but you can only ride on a good date for so long. ;) At the conclusion of a busy weekend, we realized that we needed some time together...we were both feeling pretty overwhelmed relationally and life continues to move at a fast pace.

After dinner at HuHot Mongolian Grill, we decided to do "The Bookstore Date" . This basically consists of fun activities revolving around books.

We arrived at Barnes & Noble and here's how the night unfolded..

1. Head to the kids' section, find books that meant a lot to you when you were a child, and read them to each other. 

We sat around a circular children's table near the coloring books,  found a lovely assortment of books, read them together, and reminisced about our childhoods. :)

This book was a new one for both of us and a rare find indeed. Seriously, it's hilarious. I highly recommend reading it if you haven't. We loved it so much it came home with us. :)

 2. Head to the travel section and find a destination you'd like to visit in the near future.

Sam and I both decided on Italy. He liked the Dolomites of Italy and I like Southern Italy, but we both agreed that the next destination should be Italy. 

Amalfi Coast

Dolomites

3. Find something funny in the humor section!

Sam found a book called Crap Taxidermy. It was super funny and slightly horrifying at the same time to to see the poor quality of taxidermy that exists in the world. Here are two...

Notice the title "Dieting Fox"...Ah, just look at that lean and long physique. 

This one was from the really creative section where people let their artistic talents go wild...just think what marvelous creatures you could create from combining different animals in taxidermy. As we flipped through, it seriously looked like all options had been exhausted. There were some bizarre "animals"!

Check out this super helpful guide to parenting...

We ended up spending some time in the games section too and bought The Struggle for Catan. It's a game that can accommodate 2 players and is from the proud lineage of Catan,which we love. I'm hoping it'll be just the thing to brighten up a dull evening sometime.

All in all, "The Book Store Date" was a huge success. We were able to actually learn more about each other, laugh together, and feel like kids again.

Labor Day 2014

As labor day approached, Sam and I realized that we didn't really have any plans and we both agreed that it would be a real shame pass up a day off. With that in mind, we zoomed off to Chicago for some Field Museum fun. We thought it would be a sweet family activity and something that Wells would enjoy. I seriously love having a toddler. Watching him explore was pretty cute as he marveled at the animal exhibits. His expressive exclamations of, "ooooh!", every other second made us smile.

On a very honest note:
About half-way through the day I was complaining because I didn't feel that Sam and I were able to connect on a heart level most of the day. Sam reminded me that that's the essence of a family day with a fast-moving toddler. We were pretty busy keeping up with him and that's to be expected as we've entered the phase of young parent-hood in full force. I guess that's why intentional date nights and time together is so important. Sam and are learning how to connect, trust each other, and work through conflict more than ever at this stage in our lives. It's not always easy, but I know we're growing.

We walked along the lake. It was pretty hot, but worth it...especially since Sam happens to like boats a lot.

Notice the aquarium in the background. We decided that's the next adventure to happen in the near future. :)

Yogurt for Wells (compliments of Trader Joe's). We at at the Bongo Room for lunch and it was great.

Mom has been encouraging us to take a kitten home for Wells...looks like Wells might prefer a mountain goat instead. 

Father/Son sweetness 

Last minute Starbucks stop.

The field museum is a really pretty building...we marveled at the detail.