The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Last year for Valentine's Day, I gave Evan a jar of "52 Sexy and Sweet Ideas." Every week or so, Evan draws an idea out of the jar. And while those sexy ones are obviously GREAT to fulfill, the sweet ones are just as fun .   I can't really go in to too many details on the "sexy" ideas because this is a family read blog after all, but, I'll give you some of the PG ones in case you want to copy my idea.  Under the sexy category, we've drawn cards that say "give and receive a full body massage" or "go take a bubble bath together." As for the sweet ones, we've chosen books out for the other to read, have rented a movie and watched it with a huge amount of junk food, cooked dinner together, and more.  While Evan was off this month, he drew "go to the park together and have a picnic."  When we finally took the time to go, we had an AWESOME day together.

Evan packed a picnic: yummy sandwiches, lemonade, some chips, and fruit.  We went to a park near the house and found a great spot under a tree.  We stayed there for nearly 2 hours just relaxing with Liliana and our beagle Linda.

 Liliana LOVED looking up at the trees and eventually took a short 20 minute nap while Evan and I just cuddled and appreciated some time together.

 Once Liliana woke up, we played together and talked back and forth.

Our beagle Linda is OBSESSED with playing fetch.  Her Kong is her life and she would seriously run for that thing until she dies.  This truly isn't an exaggeration.  I'm telling you, she would DIE for it.  In the above picture, she's about to walk to the lake and soak in it for about 10 minutes.  She does this over and over again when we go to the park.  She used to dislike the water, but after spending a month in San Antonio where my Dad threw her in the pool multiple times, she's not a fan of cooling off so quickly.  Unfortunately, we have to deal with that nasty lake smell on her afterwards! Eww!

Liliana and Daddy played together for a while after we took a mile walk around the park.

And somehow, Liliana gave us pictures that were even CUTER than we could imagine.  She's talented like that.

Really, we all left with smiles like this one on our faces.  It's been over a month since this date, but it was a great one for our family.  Even though typically a date is 2 people, this one was JUST RIGHT with the four of us.  It was a family date and we enjoyed it SO much.  We've actually been back to the park 3 times since.  When you're at the park, the world stops.  I can't do errands or be searching for things on the Internet or on my phone.  At the park, we put everything away and just enjoy our time as a family.  It's perfection.