A Date - Doing what we Love Best.

If you are visiting from Jenna's Journey Comment Challenge - Welcome!

I've mentioned on a few posts that my kids have been gone - they are actually returning today after being with Papa and Nana since Friday.  Here's my advice - if you have someone who can take your kids for overnight or for a week, do it :-)  It's so refreshing to get that break and it is good for the kids too!

When we planned this kid get-away, we planned it purposefully around a weekend that my husband had off so that we could spend some time just the two of us and actually get some stuff done. 

To begin with, my mom so graciously came over on Friday and stayed all day even though she was taking the boys home.  Why?  Because I had already been planning to go scrapbooking all day when we made these plans so she was going to watch the boys and the munchkin for me, like she usually does.  She stuck around all day and headed home once Darryl got home from work :-)  I enjoyed a fantastic day with friends and got through Easter 2012 (If you remember, I'm working to stay current so being caught up through Easter is a big deal!!)  Darryl got to enjoy a quiet night at home. Alone.  No kids, no wife.  That is a true rare deal for him and I think he enjoyed it :-)

We decided that we would take Saturday out to just get away and that is what we did.  One of the things we did pre-kids was take off for the day and just drive - stopping along the way to do fun things and always (or so it seemed) ending up at Lake Michigan for the sunset. 

 The very first thing we wanted to do was . . .clean the truck :-)  We washed it and vacuumed it out so that we weren't driving around with 3 month old cheerios rolling around at our feet HA! 

From there, we headed to lunch at a place called Grand Woods Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids.  Darryl had heard some great things about it and really wanted to try it out.  Now, recently, we have gone several places looking for the perfect burger and have been highly disappointed.  We both ordered burgers (each a different one) and let me tell you - when we want burgers THIS is where we will go!  Thankfully it was a beautiful day because they have a huge outdoor area (that is covered) that we really enjoyed - the indoor area is very "lounge/bar" like so it isn't some place we would go when it was super busy but for an early lunch it was perfect. 

 If you know my husband at all, you know that he loves Grand Rapids history AND Coffee.  We killed two birds with one stone :-)  First, we drove around as we headed towards Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters as he was looking for the path of the old Street Cars.  He has done tones of research and knew where the bridges were and the basic path that he wanted to follow.  He loved it (I loved just riding around with the sunroof open HA).  We ended up at this awesome coffee place which on the 5th floor of an old furniture warehouse.  The Business is open to the public on Saturdays from 10-3 for free coffee tasting and you can get a coffee roasting lesson to boot!  If you so choose, you can even have him roast beans for you right then and there while you wait.  Darryl loved it.  I got a bonus while there because, you see, I'm not a fan of just "coffee" so I was wandering around when I noticed this guy taking some cool photos so I asked him about a technique he was using.  Come to find out this guy is a professional photographer and used to do the late night scene chasing after celebrities and the such.  He got burnt out on that lifestyle and now does nature photos - specifically lightning.  In 20 minutes he gave me about 3000 tips and ideas  - no joke, I wish I could have spent a day with him because he was such a good teacher and his speciality is low lighting/night time stuff . .plus he even gave us some cute ideas to try with the kids.  He gave me his e-mail and said to contact him with any questions or if I want some ideas on some fun shots. 

 Once we left the Coffee place we drove back roads to the cemetery.  One of the things that we feel is important with our kids is to start teaching them about their heritage which includes family members who have passed on.  Obviously, we didn't have kids with us but we wanted to stop and visit Darryl's brothers grave site.  In the future we will take the boys - Nathan carries Darryl's brothers name as his middle name (Adam) - Darryl and Adam were 16 months apart and best friends all through their life.  It means alot to have two boys of our own so close together who are already best friends.  Ironically, my parents took my boys to visit my grandmas spot - which is something that we wanted them to do to.  We want them to know grandma too :-)  We also found Darryl's grandparents spot as well while visiting the cemetery. 

 When we left the cemetery we drove out on  one of our favorite roads (funny how you have favorites, huh?) and come upon the old Poor Farm in Ottawa County.  Again, my husband loves historical things like this and always tries to find old Poor Farms.  This one has been turned into a County Park just within the last few years and it is just a cool place to stop.  We didn't walk on any trails or anything - just read the signage they had posted this spring about the history of the place (which is really awesome) 

After leaving the park, we drove on towards the lake shore and had to decide where to eat.  Now originally we were going to go to a free Selah concert but we decided we really didn't want to be tied into that time frame and instead headed into North Muskegon to Bernie O's Pizza.  Several years ago when we camped - it rained the entire 2 1/2 days so we ended up finding this pizza place to eat dinner at and fell in love with it.  We were not disappointed when we ate there on Saturday - it was fantastic (and busy!!!).  Such good food :-) 

Naturally, from there, we drove to our favorite, secret beach (notice I'm not telling you were it is!!), got out our beach chairs and sat by the water for well over an hour.  The sand and the sound of the waves - there is nothing like it, anywhere.  I wish it hadn't been cloudy so we could have seen the sunset but it was still beautiful.  No trip to the beach is complete without a drive along the lake shore and, of course, stopping for ice cream. 

It was a great day - very relaxing and just a break from every day life at home and at work. 

We did work on Sunday, don't you worry :-)  We spent 3 hours cleaning out the garage and re-organizing it as we do once a year.  We also cleaned off all of the outdoor toys and rearranged a few things before being done for the day! We then treated our selves to some incredible smoothies from a local ice cream shop before relaxing for the rest of the day.  That night we enjoyed a HOT dinner (something we don't always get to do) of Steak on the grill, sweet potatoes (cooked in the crock pot!), asparagus and garlic bread. 

Nothing better than making great memories with the one you love!

"Banana's for you" Date Night Idea

Not long ago, I posted about the 120 Day Challange that I was working on completing.  As part of that challenge, I recently put together this date night for my Hubby! 

On the morning of, I put a cute little invitation in his Lunch Cooler so that he would find it once he started digging for his sandwich later in the day.  (To get your copy, click here - I tried to make it generic)

After the kids went to bed (they go down fairly early), our date started with making dinner together.  Since my theme (which you will understand why in just a few!) was "Banana's For you"  we made Banana Sour Cream Pancakes,  and Sausage Patties (Darryl ended up making eggs too because he was so hungry!).  Then, for dessert a little later we had good old Banana Splits!!!

Now, where did this inspiration come from??  For Christmas this past year, I picked up the game Bananagrams for Darryl's stocking and we have yet to play it! It was a hot item last year on lots of blogs!

It's a form of scrabble but without a board.  We had fun playing it and will play it again - it would be a great game to play with older elementary kids and above too.

Doesn't he look so serious?  He won.  :-) 

So yes, this was a successful date night - we had fun, got to eat hot food, and just hung out together! 

What dates have you done recently? 



Alphabet Date Idea

I wanted to share this great date idea that my husband and I did awhile ago.  I find many date ideas on other blogs that I follow so I felt it was only right to share! 

There is actually two parts to this date - the first part is something on going and the other idea is something you could do just one time and make it a theme for the night.

The first idea is to eat your way through the Alphabet.  It really isn't as bad as it sounds but instead, each time you go out, chose a restaurant that begins with the letter of the alphabet - beginning with A and working through to Z.  When we did this, it was tons of fun.  We tried restaurants we had never heard of - some were good and some were bad LOL  We only made it to letter J and life got in the way.  Sadly, now we go out so rarely, that we tend to go to our favorites :-)  When we did this, we took turns picking and would surprise the other one on date night.

On the very first date for letter A - Darryl got creative.  First, we went out to eat at Chinese Restaurant which we will never eat at again ;-)  After that, we went to the mall and had 30 minutes to wander the mall and find something for the other person that started with the letter A for $10.00 or less.  (you could go to Target or the Dollar Store even and have a lower budget).  I picked out the movie Airplane for him and he picked out a book called Attic Treasures for me.

We  met back at Panera bread for Coffee/hot chocolate and give each other our gifts.  We  headed home and watched his move.  It was so much fun. 

I also just read this "Dollar" date idea over at The Dating Divas which actually made me think of "our" date to share with you.

A Birthday Getaway!

My husband's 45th birthday was on Tuesday, the 22nd and I planned a great two day getaway for him, if I say so myself!  The best part of all was that he was TOTALLY surprised! 

I actually started his little birthday surprise a week before by sharing with him a "Few of my Favorite" things about him along with some of his favorite things.  First of all I printed off these cards.

I gave him the poem and the first card (along with a treat!) 5 days before our get away.  Each day he would find one stuck in his bag or left in the truck.  You can get a copy of the poem and the cards at oopsey-daisy.  She actually did a blog swap with Dating Diva's and that is where the post came from too! 

On to the surprise.  My plans were almost foiled when we got hit with a HUGE snowstorm on Sunday afternoon into Monday morning.  I love snow but this one threatened ice and I knew if we got ice, there was no way I could pull this off but, thankfully we "only" got about 12 inches of snow AND my parents only got snow too! 

This whole two day date was based on clues that I had written.  On Monday morning, I waited for my parents to arrive, planning to give Darryl the first clue when they walked in the door but, wouldn't you know it, he just happened to see them turn the corner LOL  He was dumbfounded!  I don't think he even really knew what to think or what to do!! 

We hit the road and the first clue gave him a rhyme to tell him where we were eating - he had to sing the song "Rockin' Robin" to figure out we were going to Red Robin . . .but, just that morning I had seen a coupon for $5.00 off of $15.00 at TGIF so I gave him that option and we switched restaurants to save some money :-)

 Once we finished our fantastic burgers, he had a clue that gave him the choice of two activities - (both in secret rhyme)  - either bowling or a movie.  He decided a movie was in order.  I had printed off the sheet with movies and highlighted the times that worked.  We decided to go see "The Tourist" mostly because we both love Johnny Depp as an actor.  It was a good movie but not very deep (and it does have a couple spots of language in it . ..just saying) And of course, we had to have popcorn! LOL

Now, due to all of the snow, my parents arrived a little later than originally planned so . .. something had to give in my plan.  I had originally planned that we would next go to Target and each buy some treats for a game we would play later.  We tossed this out but you can check out the idea at Dating Diva's and may decide to use it yourself :-)

We did stop and buy a few snacks a little later since I hadn't brought anything as I normally do but we did not play this whole game.

Instead, I gave him his clue of where we were staying and we headed to our Hotel.  I love Travelocity - I got such an awesome deal, which is why we could go away over night, on an incredible hotel!!

Darryl was very excited to be at a hotel - can you tell?

Our room had a balcony that overlooked the pool - it was awesome!

The Pool Area.

My next clue had to do with dinner - even though I had picked a place we liked, I let Darryl make the final decision and he picked my second choice (sometimes rhyming with one is better than the other LOL).  We went to dinner at The Crazy Horse Saloon - a fantastic Steak Place.

It is tradition to put a $1.00 on the wall at the restaurant.

Than we just headed back to the hotel, which was pretty much empty, swam in the pool and relaxed.

Tuesday morning, his actually birthday, his first clue sent us to the Mall where he got to pick lunch (We ate at Panera Bread) and than, I had a game planned at Barnes and Noble.  This is another Dating Diva's idea and is a blast.

If you read her post, you'll see that they only got to three at a time - well, she's right.  It takes awhile to do the first set of three but is so much fun!  Here are pictures of our recipes that we found:

We are planning on each making the recipe we picked out over the next two weeks so that should be fun!!!

From the mall, we headed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the Bodies Revealed Exhibit.

It was really pretty amazing to see all of the different systems within our body and how they work.  Both Darryl and I really studied the section on the lung trying to figure out how much of her lung my sister-in-law had taken out !!  The tickets included the whole museum and a free ride on the carousel!

I'm the baggage LOLOL

Darryl is saying "I want out of here fast!" Yes, we always do dorky stuff like that!

Finally, the last clue sent us to a restaurant that we always have wanted to go to - Charley's Crab - and we were not disappointed.  Get this, the day I made my whole plan and solidified everything, Darryl came home with a $12.00 coupon to THIS restaurant!  What's the chances of that?  Needless to say I hid it away to use for dinner.

This was by far one of the best meals either one of us have had in a very long time!  Yes, it will be a once a year treat but it was so worth it!! (And this replaced "The 1913 Room" on my 40x40 list . .just saying LOL)

Then, we headed home :-)  It was a fantastic and much needed get away . .. I think I could have almost used just one more day!

OHHH one last thing!  His gift.  Darryl has seen those stickers on vehicles for awhile that show the members of the family and just really liked them.  So, I did some looking and found a fantastic site called Say It On the Wall and got him this:

Isn't that awesome???  And Laura was fantastic to work with!!  She responded quickly, gave me all of the options and explained the process well; than I had my vinyl within just a few days!  Check out that site if you are looking for some neat things for your wall or vehicle!!  I also gave him the date cards that I talked about in this post.