Priceless Treasures

I neglected to say my absolutely favorite thing about New Orleans in my last post. And that is: That's where my home is, where my family lives together.

Kid Date Night

When I was a single parent, I really missed having individual time with my kids. I started thinking how I really wanted to be able to have a time with each of them alone. And now that there are two parents in the house, we are able to do that.

We've designated Tuesday nights, because that is what works for us. And surprisingly we have been able to do this at very low cost (mostly free).

The first week Greyson and I took a picnic dinner to City Park and ate on an island. Then I took him to KMart to spend a $5 giftcard he had that he was dying to use. He also took $1.50 that he had gotten from the Toothfairy. He spent $5.74 at the register and then bought a $.25 gumball at the machine and a $.50 necklace from the same machine. Yep, he walked out with a penny in his pocket! And for me it was so much better than trying to go with 2 kids into the toy aisles! That night Alex took Grant swimming at a rooftop pool at a hotel. Yep, both my kids thought dad was the best date.

The second week Grant and I made cheese quesadillas (his favorite) and then got out a cookie baking set he had gotten for his birthday (last year). While the sugar cookie dough was chilling we took a trip to Whole Foods for toppings (total spent $10). I admit, because of time and homework constraints, I did most of the work. That night Greyson and Alex went to a friends house for a cooking lesson.

This week was our 3rd Kid Date Night and Greyson and I rode our bikes to City Park to again have a picnic on "our" island. I was a little worried about the sun setting, so we rode right back after dinner and then played a couple rounds of Mancala. Alex took Grant geo caching and Grant came home with pockets filled with feathers and an army figure's leg. Yep, priceless treasures!