At the end of August, Pete was scheduled to teach an advaced life support class at a small hospital on the Iron Range, so I decided I would pack up the littles and tag along in the camper. Had I known the first two full days would be in the mid-50s and raining, I may have made a different choice. And I surely would have packed coffee. Friends, I don’t even know what possessed me to only pack tea on our four day adventure. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy tea. But it simply cannot substitue my deep desire for a cup of coffee goodness when I am feeling stressed. As soon as there was a break in the rain during the afternoon of our second day, I plopped Sam in the stroller, told Ella to hop on her bike, and we booked it to the quaint campground shop for my small cup of heaven. I realize that my need for coffee at that time was primarily emotional, but it absolutely did the trick. I was ready to take on the world – or two kids in a little pop-up camper – after those 12 ounces. We painted glittery sticks, read Curious George, played Hello Kitty Uno, and had a bit of a dance party, all before Daddy returned from the hospital for dinner. Thankfully, the next two days were sunny. We spent the entire time outside! It was absolutely lovely.
Sadly, this was the only camping trip we were able to take this summer. I’m so glad we managed to get this in before school started. Next summer we will do our best to squeeze in as many camping adventures as possible before we head off to Kenya. Because boy oh boy, do we adore camping!
Every Wednesday night, our dear friend, Hannah, comes over to watch the kids for the evening so Pete and I can go on a date. We’ve been very intentional about having a weekly date night since Ella was little. It has been amazing for our relationship. Even when we don’t feel like we’re connecting, whether it’s because Pete is working a lot or we’re just not ‘clicking’ for some odd reason, we know Wednesday is coming up and we’ll have time together without the kids to reconnect. We sometimes have to spend the first hour or so going through business just to get it out of the way, but after that, we focus only on each other. We almost always feel much closer by the end of the night, like we’ve been able to reset together.
This week we began our date with a friend we had wanted to connect with for a few months, but when we parted ways with her, we didn’t have any plans. As we drove over the bridge between Superior and Duluth (Wisconsin and Minnesota) we ran through a few options for the rest of the night. We both wanted to do something a bit active, which meant we weren’t going to just sit at Barnes & Noble, a favorite date night spot when we can’t think of anything better to do. We thought about walking the mall, but it was about to close. It was far too cold to walk outside, so that basically left two places: Target and Walmart. Since we’re not spending money, I didn’t really want to go to Target. It’s easier for me to avoid it altogether. That’s when an idea hit me. A Walmart scavenger hunt. Pinterest had to have something we could use. After a quick search as Pete drove, I found a list that would definitely work for us, even though it was designed to be done by competing teams. Hot dog! We were set!
With the list on my phone and my camera ready to go, we stepped through the sliding doors of the ginormous store and set a timer. Thirty minutes would give us enough time to get through most of the list but still keep us moving quickly. Besides, we needed to keep it exciting!
Three. Two. One. GO!
Create a team mascot. (We’ve got a whole lot of Frozen in our lives, so Olaf seemed an obvious choice.)
A food neither of us like…
A food we’ve both had in the last week…
A toy we both had when we were younger…
A DVD neither of us has seen…
Something that is only used outside…
Create a battle scene… (our favorite!)
Wearing something that matches… (Go, Bulldogs!)
We completed about 19 different challenges in our 30 minutes. It was super fun, and we spent absolutely zero dollars! The list we used worked, but it was designed for a team, as were the others I found on Pinterest. So, I put together a date night list that we can use in the future. I’ve included it here so you can use it, too!
Click here to download the Date Night Scavenger Hunt. Print it or save it on your phone, grab your honey, and head to a big store for you next date night!
What’s your favorite thing to do on date night? Leave a comment below or by clicking on COMMENTS under the post title.
Did you know October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month? It’s true! There are multiple other groups advocating for awareness this month, too, like breast cancer and dwarfism. We’re focusing primarily on Down syndrome, of course, in celebration of our sweet Samuel. To spread awareness this week, I’m sharing a few photos from our very recent trip to St Paul for the annual Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk put on by the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota. In years past, the walk has also been held in Duluth, but this year it was not, so we happily made the trek down to join thousands of others to celebrate the awesomeness of Down syndrome. It was fun to see friends from the Twin Cities area and participate in such a huge event. There were over 8,000 people!
