We had an errand to run in our big city yesterday so we had quite a drive ahead of us. We left when the girls should have been napping. It definitely took it’s toll on our little toddler, but the big kid only set up in whines after we were home, so that’s pretty good. Mostly I think they just wanted to be out and playing instead of cooped up in the truck.
I, however, loved it. The air conditioning was blowing, B was holding her cookie monster wearing a tiny red dress and blue sunglasses. K was using one of the tablets to watch a Sesame Street movie. She also insisted on putting on a dress. Somehow, she misreads my communications on clothes every single time. Clearly saying ‘why don’t you go put on your sparkly shorts to go with your unicorn t-shirt’ (already on) was not clear enough. She came down in a dress to match B’s (with sparkly shorts underneath). *sigh* They actually both looked adorable, and behaved well in the backseat. They did well at our destination and through dinner, too.
Some of the landscape was just beautiful. We had a destination in mind, but were plenty early so we took an alternate route through ‘rich’ neighborhoods. I think the biggest thing was that it was golf course or pasture interspersed with a few big houses. Lining the road were huge trees, a white rail fence like you think of seeing at horse farms, peeks of flowers here and there to delight the eyes. Beautiful.
…and my husband and I got to talk. Random. So random of stuff. You have no idea. It’s what life was like BC (before children). Sometimes we had quiet but a lot of the time we would just talk about things back then… the news, the weather, we even talked about politics in an engaging way and not just ‘what in the heck are they up to now.. SIGH’.. sort of way.. I think we get that old BC feeling now and again on long drives. That sense of just being the 2 of us. That sense of ‘we’ and ‘us’ that we rarely get in the hubbub of daily life. We certainly didn’t talk about politics, mostly just whatever came to our minds. Billboards, ideas that billboards gave us. The drivers on the road next to us. Things we need to buy or want to buy or dream about having one day. No in depth discussions, just random everyday stuff. I guess it’s like catching up with an old friend (who you see every day but never get to talk to!)
We had dinner at Outback. I had been e-mailed a mother’s day coupon, which basically covered the tip we left. Our server forgot to put the drinks on our tab, too, and we told him, but he said not to worry about it, waved it off and thanked us for our honesty. I wasn’t sure what to think about that. I mean, it was nice to get free sodas, but it made me wonder how many people that had happened to and they didn’t mention it. Ah well, none of my business I guess but it wouldn’t occur to me NOT to tell them, if that makes any sense. Either way, we totally had cheese fries (I know they are horrible for us, but split 4 ways, the kids got something in their bellies fast and we shared the calorie count!), and both of us got something we liked. The kids kind of picked at stuff, but both got full, so that’s the important thing. They actually did really well. I know I said that already, but it bears repeating, it wasn’t a horrible experience. Usually it is. Maybe I was just more relaxed than usual, but either way, I really felt like I had a blessed day. The weather was great, I really got a chance to talk to my partner for once, and the kids stayed on my good side 😉
