First Date...

For some time now, Lincoln and I have been trading off taking the two big girls out on dates. We feel like it is important for the kids to get one on one time with each of their parents from time to time. This can make for a busy schedule, what with church callings, Mommy and Daddy dates, family nights out and all the other chaos that goes along with a family of seven. So up until now, it's just been Kennedy and Julia. We've had enough Family Councils now with Julia and Kennedy asking for date nights that Devon finally caught on to the fact that maybe he's missing out. So last Sunday when it was his turn for Bring-Ups, he asked to go on a date with me. I was, of course, honored to be asked and excited to try to make his first date a good one. When I asked him what he wanted to do on this date he rattled off a very lengthy list of events including dinner at Old MacDonald's, fishing, and a trip to Las Vegas. It became apparent that he would be happy to do just about anything as long as we called it a date. So yesterday was the big day. We started things off with lunch at Old MacDonald's. Devon likes to eat at the MacDonald's here in Dodgeville, so despite the fact that it was only 11 am and we would be near a Mickey Ds in Platteville at 11:45, we went ahead and ate here in town. Devon had his usual- 6 piece chicken nugget Big Kids meal with fries and chocolate milk, and I had the ever delicious Chipotle BBQ snack wrap with grilled chicken and a bottled water.




After we ate we played on the play space for a while, driving the jet, playing hide and seek and sliding down the tube slide.




We then packed up and headed toward Platteville, making a quick stop at a cute little toy shop in Mineral Point to purchase two little pirate figures Devon has been wanting.



We walked hand in hand back to the car and made our way down to Platteville to see WALL-E. We got popcorn and Sprite and kicked back to enjoy the flick.



When there was about 5 or 10 minutes left Devon asked me when it would be over. I asked him if he liked the movie and he said yes, but I think he was getting sick of sitting there. A couple times during the movie he whispered to me, "Am I still on my date?" I told him he was still on the date until we got home. Well that came back to bite me in the rear because after the movie I wanted to run into Aldi for a minute since were all the way down in Platteville and he wasn't too happy about that. I tried to convince him it was a fun part of the date but I don't think he was buying it. He did come and cooperate but he didn't like that it was not on his list of fun things to do on a date and yet here we were.
I really enjoyed spending the better part of the day just with him. He's getting to be such a big boy nowadays and he's so much fun to be with. He has his moments, like any four year old, where he gets angry or sad, but for the most part he is a very happy and enthusiastic kid. He loves to sing- especially pirate songs- and I often hear him singing as he plays. His eyes light up when he's excited about something and he's quick to smile. He's also very loud when he's excited, which can get to be a bit much, but I remind myself it's an expression of his enthusiasm and happiness, so it's a good thing. I think it's because of his exuberance when he's happy that I become such putty in his hands when he's sad. It is heartbreaking for me to see him hurt- physically or emotionally- and not see that light in his eyes.
So we had a fun time and now we need to put Devon in the rotation. I'm not sure how long we can hold off Renie, though once Devon starts 4 year old Kindergarten she'll be getting more one on one time automatically-assuming Jesse doesn't try to give up his nap.