Date Nights...

One of my favorite back to school traditions is our back-to-school date nights with the kids. Last year I told you 10 reasons why we make this happen and the only thing I would add is that we need to do this more often. Coordinating is the hardest part, but lucky for us we have an amazing village that watched the kiddos each night we went out! First up... 

Our Lovely Landry!

(Photo cred: Radley)

Her agenda included Freebirds, school supply shopping and spoons. Things to note: we had "twinkie" hair and I adore walking behind this scene.

Y'all - she was so dang excited about this burrito and she ate every single bite. I'm pretty sure that Ryan is never more proud of our kids than when they can put away a bunch of food. 

And then we headed to the motherland for all things Kindergarten. She looks so dang tiny but she was so excited to shop and pick out the perfect items to get her kinder ready!

Somethings were on the list and others notsomuch!

I have so many mixed emotions about this next step. I am overjoyed because I know that she is going to love school - she is going to grow and flourish and discover how brave and courageous she really is. I am also in denial that our BABY is a big kid. My heart isn't ready for that just yet! 

She was disappointed that every single nail place we went to was closed. She really needed a touch-up on her toes, but a few extra toppings on that froyo made her forget about polish real quick. Also, she is determined to get every last drop from that bowl - she gets that from me!

#noicecreamleftbehind

We ended her date with a quick trip to a park before grabbing the bigs at the Baileys. We sealed the date with a kiss and I made a mental note to remember how perfectly she still fits in my arms at this exact moment in time. 

Next up... Emmy... 

(Photocred: Landry)

Emmy's date started at Radley's camp drop-off. Landry rode home with the Munsons so Emmy not only got US to ourselves, she got the car/music selection/movie rights to herself, too! 

We made it back to College Station just in time for her activity of choice...

This girl's happy place is doing anything creative. Drawing, painting, coloring, building... she loves it! I love how much confidence she has in what she does and she sets an incredible example for ME! I freeze up anytime "art" is involved. (Note: this is different than being creative and thinking of fun ideas - this is the actual physical part of creating). 

She tackles every single project with self assurance. She isn't afraid to try something new or do something out of ordinary. In her mind, there is no perfect formula for how something should look or feel. She just begins and figures all the steps out along the way.

She's focused and determined and just in her element and I LOVE watching her. 

We were in and out in 20 minutes partially because they closed 50 minutes after we arrived but mostly because she knew what she wanted to do! I would have taken 20 minutes just to pick out what  I wanted to paint! 

Emmy and I plan on reading Anne of Green Gables together so she wanted to run by Barnes and Noble to see if they had any copies. Sadly, they didn't but she managed to pick a prize out anyway.

 

Emersyn is usually hyper aware of our feelings - she has this way of making sure we are all cared for which I think is related to being a middle child. She knew we had gone to Freebirds with Landry and didn't want to "make" us go twice in a row. She kept giving all these random suggestions of places that she knew we would like but weren't her favorites - we assured her that two days of Freebirds was just fine with us! Also,  how could we ever deny this toothless grin.

Her dessert stop of choice involved chocolate chip cookies and a view.

The sweetest ending of the sweetest date... 

with the sweetest second grader around!

Radley went from Fish Camp to Camp Carolina to date night - how he even had the energy to hang with us, I have no idea... but I'm so glad that he did!

(Photo cred: Emersyn)

He is our movie kid so he picked The Emoji Movie for our date. We didn't get much conversation time in, but hearing him laugh at silly things reminded me that he's still little and that I'm not losing my "baby boy" just yet. Also, he does a killer emoji impression. 

No surprise that he picked Pei Wei as his dinner of choice. We grabbed a seat outside and enjoyed all things nine-year-old boy. He eats way more than I do these days, is always up for silly faces and gets embarrassed when you mention basically any topic other than sports.

He also knows the key to my heart is a banana malt from DQ.  How'd I get so lucky to have these amazing men in my life? These amazing kids? 

Find the time to spend with those wee ones in your life - you won't regret any bit of effort it takes!