Happy Heart Day

They say that Valentine's Day is overrated, or a Hallmark Holiday, but I love any reason to turn an ordinary day into a celebration.  Especially with little ones in the house.  Jordis was dressing for the holiday a few days in advance.

I was pretty excited that my Valentine's treats for bible study turned out exactly like they looked in the picture.  That rarely happens.

I also got a box of chocolates from my secret sister.  Yum!

Jordis and Xander each brought home a ton of cards and goodies from their classmates.

We ended the day with breakfast for dinner (and a picture that for some reason keeps showing up sideways even though it's upright in my computer...grrrrrr).

Hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day, too!

That state up north

Last weekend we took a little jaunt up north for our anniversary and spent the weekend with some friends. Joe used to work with Jason and decided to move back home where he ended up meeting and marrying Jen, who I love. They're a lot like us and they "get" us since we lead similar lives, so we really enjoy their company. We were welcomed to Detroit by a gorgeous double rainbow. In fact, there was a rainbow each of the three nights we were there. I figured it was Michigan's way of laughing at me because I'm an Ohio State fan and was coming up there to spend money.

Joe and Jen also had a welcoming committee of their own.

I'm not a fan of big dogs, but Popeye and Armund were sweet puppies. On Saturday we went to breakfast and then they took us up to Frankenmuth, home of Bronner's the world's largest Christmas store. We spent three hours in there. They had everything Christmas that you could imagine, but my favorite part was the huge selection of ornaments. We left with four.

Then we went shopping and to eat. Frankenmuth is set up to look like a German village and had pretty flowers as well.

That night we stopped for ice cream and watched a movie before bed. On Sunday we got up and went to lunch, then to the marina to take a ride on Joe and Jen's new boat.

They keep it docked at Lake St. Clair so they can just go hop on at their leisure. These are the Twin Sisters Lighthouses.

We rode out to Harsens Island and docked at Riverside Grocery, a cozy little place where you could get some basic staples, ice cream, or a meal from the tiny pizzeria.

As if Jason wasn't already wanting a boat after our trip to Louisiana, Joe is on my bad list was kind enough to let Jason drive us back to shore. Here's Crockett and Tubbs...

After going home to walk the dogs and take a rest, we ended up at Olive Garden for dinner and then sat in the hot tub for awhile before calling it a night with some TV. On the way home we stopped at Motown.

They had a large group there so we got to jump in on their tour instead of roaming around on our own. We had two different guides and their presentations were very informative. Both were very knowledgeable and I was shocked that they could answer random questions from the crowd about things that went on way before their time. It was a fun way to end the weekend.

Getting to Thibodaux

I know that fried alligator picture made you all so excited to see the rest of our trip.

The kids were bright-eyed and busy-tailed when we left home at 5:15 in the morning.

With the exception of a short nap Jordis took (short as in MAYBE 30 minutes), they stayed awake for

THE.WHOLE.TRIP.

That would be 18 hours.

Once we got so far we were too close to stop so Jason just kept driving. Cops are good like that. And then 20 minutes out we got behind a drunk so Jason had to call the sheriff's office and they made us follow it. At any rate, it made this place look amazing once we finally got there.

Especially considering the lodging options we've had in years past. This Hampton Inn is only six months old and Jason got us the king suite so we were in the lap of luxury. It's really nice to have a lot of space when your kids need to run around. And the kids were really psyched about the continental breakfast.

Xander was so excited to go meet his great-grandma the next morning. He wanted to know if she had toys, because "grandma's are 'sposed to have toys." Luckily for us, she did.

We did some visiting, went to lunch, and then did more visiting. Later we went to dinner. The kids thought that looking through these chairs was so funny.

Jason's brother and his family arrived that afternoon so we went to see them at Uncle Keith and Aunt Sheila's. Then it was back to the hotel, as we had a big day ahead.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was early this year since we had to wake up the kids when Jason got home from work (so he could go to sleep).

The kids were very happy....

Santa left us a thank you note for the cookies.

Xander agreed to pose for a photo and he made us a wonderful gift at school.

Then we ate a breakfast of Gift of the Magi Muffins and scrambled eggs. This year we put candles in the muffins and blew them out for Jesus' birthday. It's a little easier to explain Christmas to the kids that way, they're not quite understanding much more than that right now.

Then I spent the rest of the morning putting together toys. :0)

Wednesday in Florida

I bet you can't wait for this Florida trip to be over with, eh? Rest assured, just a few more days. It was day two in a row of cold and cloudy and we ended up giving the kids a coma rest in front of the tv after their rip-roaring daily wake-up call that occurred between 5:30 and 6:30.

We got up and took the kids to this breakfast buffet we like in Kissimmee. There's nothing spectacular about it, but we like to occasionally pick and choose and it makes it easier to feed the kids. It's also really cheap.

After that we headed over to Old Town for some shopping. My dad started taking me here when I was 14. Then I went when I was older, and also on our honeymoon, so now we just can't go to Florida without stopping. I love to go to Black Market Minerals, which is one store that's still there after all these years. The kids pretty much had no interest in being here, but Jordis agreed to a picture so I took the opportunity.


Then it was time for date day. Jason and I had booked a couples massage at a little bohemian looking spa I'd found online before we went down. So we packed the kids some lunch and they spent the rest of the day with my dad and step-mom. They took them to the mini golf at our resort and then got dinner at one of the restaurants. After our massage we came back and got ready for dinner.

Our original plan was to eat at a restaurant where we dined 10 years prior when we were on our honeymoon. However, the restaurant has since moved to a different location, and upon looking at the menu we discovered there wasn't even anything much we wanted to eat there, either. This is only fitting since the place we met is gone, the place where we had our first date is gone, engagement location gone, wedding location gone, it's just a pattern with us.

So Jason found us a new place online before the trip, and it was incredible. At the host stand they asked for our last name so I just spelled it, which I always do, because if you say it people just ask you how to spell it anyway. Little did I know the man was from Shreveport, Louisiana and he said, "Oh, Cajun!" We were off to a good start.

The place was rustic Italian looking and we had a cool half-circle booth. The lighting was dim for ambiance, but not dark enough that you can't see anything. They even completely pulled the table away so we didn't have to slide all the way around the booth. When I ordered lemon in my drink the server brought me a plate of lemons on the side. Bonus points for him!

We decided to go there based on the menu but we both ended up ordering from the daily specials. Jason had some kind of steak with risotto and some grilled vegetables (that I ate, of course, except the broccoli).

My dinner was one of the most fabulous meals I've ever had. It was a butternut squash ravioli in a tomato cream sauce with diced tomatoes and fresh parmesan cheese. It was such a neat combination.

After we picked up the kids and put them to bed we ate our yummy desserts that we got to-go. Jason had a chocolate cake with mousse and ganache and I had tiramisu. No sharing here, we each found our favorites on the menu.

Such a sweet ending to a great day!