Friday Favorites: Date Night

I have just had the best couple of weeks going out with my absolute FAVORITE people in the whole wide world. Ryan and I decided that we wanted to take each kid on a date before the school year started and things got really crazy and I am so glad we did.  We let each kiddo pick their restaurant and activity and I'm kind of still laughing at what all three picked... 

Radley 

We were not at all surprised when he shouted PEI WEI for his dinner of choice. I was just glad that it wasn't Panda. This kid loves Asian cuisine which is pretty awesome, because we do, too. He was most excited about getting to use the super fancy coke machine for his drink of choice. It really is the little things. We talked about school - what he is excited (hanging with his friends, math and Spanish) about and what makes him nervous (reading in Spanish). Asked him what his favorite part of summer has been (Colorado and swimming) and what else he wants to do this summer (go to the beach).

He then decided he wanted to head to... Target. Y'all. Target. He would have sat here and played this game for hours if we would have let him, but instead we forced him to look at other things like books and games and (gasp) clothes. 

He was okay with the hat shopping. 

:)

I can't believe that he is almost 8. EIGHT. But I love how he is still okay with being little. He still calls Ryan "da da", he's okay with holding our hands, and he adores riding on Ryan's shoulders. And as much fun as I'm having with him growing up, I wish he could always be little. 

We ended our evening at DQ where it was decided that I ordered the best blizzard - years of practice y'all. We went home and Ryan then begged me to let Radley watch Jurassic Park - so I obliged and we all three snuggled up on the couch, watched dinosaurs roam the earth, teared up at one of the most amazing musical scores ever written (ok, maybe that was just me) and fell asleep way past our bedtime.  

Emersyn

 Next up was our little middle. We started out with just us girls and headed to get our toes and nails painted after our days at the beach. If Emmy has taught me anything, it's that kids are who they are going to be. She is so much girly goodness wrapped up into that tiny body and I love it simply because it's her. Bows, necklaces, lipstick, fancy dressed and painted toes. All the time. 

She chose McAlister's for dinner and surprised me by picking Dr. Pepper over sweet tea (I think it's because she heard me order tea and she wanted both. Ha!) 

And then she also picked DQ for a treat. She insisted on ordering what Gigi orders (double fudge cookie dough blizzard) and proceeded to eat my Dip Cone because, again, I ordered the best thing. 

And wouldn't you know it, she also picked Target. We browsed the $1 spot where she picked out items for Landry (princess figures) and Radley (plastic animal figures) and even found something for herself (a purple snake - Gigi be warned) and then we went shoe shopping. She managed to talk us into getting her a new pair of boots because she wants nothing more in life than to be a cowgirl, which I love. And then y'all... THEN... she picked out shoes for me. 

That expression isn't fake. I was in pain. And I really had to hold myself up. Ankles aren't meant to be inverted 67 degrees. She thought they were amazing princess shoes and could not understand in the least why I didn't buy them.

We had a sweet tea drinking, nail painting, ice cream eating, tan comparing, shoe shopping grand time. (Also, please look at Emmy's legs in the above picture and guess who won that tan comparison). 

Landry

Last, but certainly not least, was Landry's turn. Everyone in our house was excited for this date - especially Emmy and Radley because it was Landry's first date with us. She picked out her dress, her bow, her necklace and her shoes and then we headed to Uncle Pete's to drop off the bigs. She loves being alone in the car because that means she gets to sit in Emmy's seat - highlight of the night. 

She started her date like Emmy, getting her nails done and as crazy as this sounds, it's one of my favorite things to watch. She sits so stinking still - it's like she is a statue and pays such close attention to what's going on. She says yes ma'am and thank you and does such a great job listening and being patient, just enjoying the special moment she's been given.

And if this doesn't shock you, well... she also picked Target to go to.

(Let's think about this - all 3 kids picked Target. 1. We clearly shop a lot. 2. It is a pretty fantastic adventure. 3. Is there really no other place in this town that we can go to in the heat of summer to have fun with our kids? The answer is No. Get with it CS.)

She managed to sucker us out of a pre-dinner snack. 

#wellplayed #thirdkid #alwaysthebaby

She asked if she could get gifts for Emmy and Radley, too and we couldn't say no. Emmy is the proud owner of some $1 legos and Radley got some fancy dino-socks. She managed to find 153 things for herself (nail polish, horses, motorcycle, sunglasses, legos) but settled on a Chelsea doll.

"Now me and Emmy won't fight no more." 

In her best southern belle. 

Landry had a day date so the plan was to end at dinner. She originally picked Panda but we managed to talk her out of it so she chose Chick Fil A which was awesome. Until we pulled up to see it closed because it was SUNDAY. 

#parentingfail

Y'all. Her face. She was so angry. She was like hangry angry. It was pretty adorable. But also sad. But cute. Because, clearly. 

Sadly, we were running short on time so we suffered through McDonald's where all was made right when she got the world's biggest ice cream cone. 

So much fun with these three - it's just amazing what a little alone time can do for them. Makes me look harder to find what I'm missing in between and work on noticing more. They each blossom so much and jabber away and just light up. Our goal is to do this at least 3 times each year with each of them - nothing huge every time just little pockets of us and them. 

But the fun didn't end there, because the girls went to visit Gigi and Pops and Radley went to our neighbors for a sleepover, so that meant one more date night for... 

The King and I

I put on a cotton Old Navy fancy dress...

we gorged on Chuys... 

acted silly...

and stole a kiss or two...

and then like the exciting, crazy, adventurous couple we are... 

we went home, decided we wanted cookies, drove back into "town" and grabbed some before settling in on the couch and falling asleep to a horrible movie. 

And I wouldn't want it any other way.

What are your favorite date nigh traditions? Anything fun you like to do with your kiddos?

Linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci