Saturday I got to spend some time with my wife and celebrate her birthday. I arranged for Nana and Papa to watch the kids so we could have some time together. I am so grateful for them.

I worked Friday night, and when I came home, I went right to bed, so I could catch a few winks before our date day. The time I was asleep was rough for Sam as the kids were a bit crankier than normal. We almost called the whole day off.

Thankfully, all fell into place. We dropped the kids off and went to our favorite steakhouse for lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we asked to eat on the patio. When the greeter walked us out there, I was surprised to see no one else there. We had the whole patio to ourselves for most of the meal!

What a wonderful afternoon! We sat in the sun enjoying conversation and each other. It was so nice to just be together.

Because we got a later start than we had planned (and because showtimes didn’t really line up with our plans), we decided to skip the movies. There were a few things we wanted to do, so we just spent the rest of the time doing them.

We had recently bought a two camera baby monitor from Target. It was a nice one and expensive. We set up the cameras and for whatever reason, one of the two cameras would have trouble connecting. We could see one, then it would go out and we could see the other. It never seemed to be able to show both cameras at the same time. This bothered us because we were on wifi, and no matter where we were, it should connect. There was an app you could download on your phone and you were supposed to be able to check from anywhere. I never really did get that to work. We decided it was best to take it back.

So we walked through Target just looking around and talking. We ended up buying a few things for the kids while we were there. Then we wanted to walk through the Christmas Tree Store. They always have a lot of holiday type stuff. The Red, White and Blue wreath we put on the door for Memorial Day and the 4th of July was looking pretty ragged and faded. We hoped to find something there for the door. We did.

It was getting close to the time we told Sam’s folks we’d be back for the kids, so we jumped back in the car and drove to get them. I held Sam’s hand on the way there and was just so glad to have had a day with her.

When we got the kids loaded up, we started to head home. It was getting close to Andrew’s bedtime. He started to cry a lot in the backseat. Sam crawled over the center console and squeezed between the two car seats and made him a bottle to drink on the way home. She had to be extremely uncomfortable! Once we were home, she had to climb back over the center console to get back in her seat to exit the car. I joked with her that I should have taken video to get her back for posting a video of me trying to hop the fence in our backyard! It was a humorous way to end the night.

Sunday night, Sam had to work. I took the kids out to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things we needed at home. Ella found some beautiful flowers and wanted to get them for mommy. Sam’s loves sunflowers and roses, so it was almost as though she knew exactly which ones to get.

We hoped to get a cake while we were there, but they didn’t have any. On the way home we stopped at the little grocery store around the corner from us. There were three cakes there and Ella picked the one with a sun on it. When I asked the girl at the counter if she could write on it, she asked what it should say, and Ella just spouted off, “It has to say ‘Happy Birthday, Mommy’ on it!” The woman asked Ella what color she wanted it in and she told her it had to be pink.

When we got home, we decided to make mommy a birthday card. I wrote on it and she “colored” in it. I helped both her and Andrew “sign” their names. She was so excited to give it to her this morning.

When Sam got home this morning, we went out to breakfast. This would mark the first time that either one of our children has been in a restaurant to eat! Hard to believe, but it is true. Sam and I prepared for the worst. We expected Ella to be running all over the place and Andrew to just cry through the whole thing. We were surprised at just how well behaved they both were! It was a very nice breakfast.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we got there. It was mostly retirees and older couples eating. It was a tad busier when we left. Ella said that she had to say goodbye before we could go. So she stopped in the middle of the aisle and yelled, “Goodbye, friends!” It was priceless. We were getting the kids in the car and the waitress came out to stop me. I thought maybe I paid the wrong bill or something. Nope, she just wanted to give each of the kids a plastic duckie.

Sam needed to head to bed when we got home. She had to work tonight, too. Before she did, she only had one request – a photo with the kids.

This was like the fourth or fifth picture. It’s hard to get Ella to sit still long enough for one now! The first three Andrew was smiling like crazy, but he obviously only had three takes before the smile went away!

What a wonderful weekend to celebrate, Sam! One thing is for sure, I’m gonna be diligent to keep scheduling monthly date days/nights!!

Happy birthday, Sam. I love you now and forever!