Date Night and Other Fun Stuff

Well thanks to some of our good friends from the ward, Thesha and I were finally able to go on a date.  This was the first date since… well… probably since we were in Utah and we snuck out for lunch while Thesha’s parents watched the kids.  Needless to say, it was a much-needed break.  The kids stayed with the Nair’s who have two boys that are right around Tyler’s age.  As we pulled up and Brittany opened her door, Tyler headed straight in and never looked back.  Seriously, he was in the door, saying “Hi, guys!” to his friends and headed for their toys.  We literally didn’t even get to say good bye to him.  Thankfully Reagan was still willing to show us some love and at least shed a tear or two over leaving her with someone else.

For our date we decided to go out for sushi.  Tyler has a hard enough time with fish sticks so we don’t usually waste our money taking him to places like that.   Plus we wanted to go to a fairly nice restaurant.  Ok, as nice a restaurant as you can find that’s still next to a Quizno’s and a Verizon store.  As we entered the restaurant and asked for a table for two, the hostess asked if we had a reservation.   A reservation?  Now if I was joking about the Quizno’s and Verizon store I may have expected this, but when I literally parked in the same parking lot as the Quizno’s customers, I really didn’t think a reservation would be necessary.  The fact that there were ten open tables and that when we said “No” the hostess just said “Ok, follow me.” and sat us at a table just confirmed how ridiculous of a question this really was. 

As we were seated, however, I began to realize just what a reservation could have meant for us.  We were taken all the way to the back to a small table in a corner right next to the doorway to the kitchen.  To make it even more romantic, on the other side of our table there was a family of five with two boys (probably 5 and 8) and a little baby girl (about 6 or 7 months).  Here we were, finally out on a date and to one side of us we hear the suite serenade of Spanish vulgarities by the Mexicans preparing fine Japanese cuisine and an occasional “CORNER” shouted by the waiters and waitresses as they come in and around the corner leading into the kitchen.  On the other side is a gentle reminder of the life we not only tried to leave behind for the evening but also the life that awaits us as our kids get older and their kicking and kneeing and elbowing becomes more and more violent.  It’s amazing we were able to overcome the romantic ambiance and contain our overwhelming urge to start making out.

So instead we just stuffed our faces with spicy tuna rolls.

Ok, actually the family next to us was pretty well behaved and the food was pretty good so it probably wasn’t as bad as I’ve made it out to be.   And after all, a night out is a night out, right?

The next day was Saturday and after recovering from all the tuna rolls, I figured it was a nice enough day to go ahead and break out the Harley and take a little ride.  It was a little chilly, but I was bundled up so I figured I’d be ok.  As I started to pull out of the apartment complex, I didn’t even make it to the end of the road and a van started to make a left turn in front of me.  I’m sure in the back of their mind they were thinking “Hmmm, that looks like a guy on a motorcycle, but it’s obviously way too cold for that to be true so I guess it’s ok to go ahead and make the turn.”   Thankfully they realized they were wrong and there was a guy on a motorcycle headed straight for them and they stopped with just enough room for me to sneak by.  After about another five minutes on the motorcycle, however, I realized that this person’s inner voice was actually smarter than I had originally given him credit for.  It was quite a bit colder than I had originally anticipated and I froze my… uhhh… chaps off.  

I only ended up riding for about a half hour, but it was at least far enough to check out when our favorite crab shack will be opening.  As it turns out, they don’t open until May 1st.  I guess I could have waited a few more weeks to take my ride.

Like a smoked salmon sashimi prepared by a guy named Jose and served to you by a waitress named Karen, sometimes you just have to look on the bright side and just enjoy the experience as best you can. 

Ok, this next part is for all of you who read my last blog and called me names for treating Tyler like he was the intern who’s only purpose was to make my life easier.  I’ll have you know I’ve decided to use my powers for good as well.  Today after wiping Tyler’s nose with a Kleenex for the 5th time in a single hour, I was done.  So when he started to have a runny nose yet again, I told him to go get a Kleenex, told him to pull one out (accompanied by “hurry, hurry”) and then told him to wipe his nose (“hurry, Bud, I’ll time you.)   Like an old pro he wiped his nose.  Of course then he wiped his hands and then wiped off his clothes all with the same Kleenex, but hey it’s progress.  Now you may be thinking this is just me still being lazy, but wiping your nose is a critical life skill that will serve him well throughout his life.  Just like bringing his dad a Mt. Dew.

They grow up so fast

Well, once again there’s not too much to blog about in terms of fun activities or sightseeing adventures so I’ll just take a few minutes to share a few of the latest developments with the kids. 

Tyler is growing up into quiet a young boy.  He’s talking so well and is able to understand and respond appropriately.  So, for example, he was repeating Thesha word-for-word as she was trying to ask him to do something and she said, “Are you just going to repeat everything I say or what?” and his appropriate response was “Yes.”  Well, ok then.

The best part about him understanding and responding accordingly is that I now have someone who can start to do those menial tasks that aren’t real difficult but are just a hassle.  For example, we were getting ready to go out and I needed to change Tyler’s diaper.  So I just asked him to run get me a diaper.  Amazingly he ran and not only got a diaper but grabbed the tub of wipes as well.  Sweet.  “Ok,” I thought, “let’s see how well he REALLY understands.”  So I asked him to go to the fridge and get me a soda.  AWESOME – he totally just brought me a Mt. Dew and I didn’t even have to leave my indentation in the couch.  I felt bad that I had reached a new level of laziness, but I figure I’ve earned it and sooner or later he’s going to figure out that the whole “Hurry, I’ll time you.” bit is just a hoax to get him to do stuff he really doesn’t want to do.  I have to be careful with my new-found powers, however.  The other day we were at the grocery store and as we were checking out I almost tossed him the keys and asked him to pull the car up to the door.  Yeah, I really need to save that one for later when I can really use it to my advantage.

Another fun thing that Tyler’s been doing is stretching his imagination.  I don’t know where he picked this up, but lately he’s been “hopping” around on his hands and knees and referring to himself as “little froggy”.  “C’mon, little froggy.”  “It’s time for lunch, little froggy.”  “Stop kicking your sister, little froggy.”  I would worry about this but every once in a while he still comes up to me and says “Hi Dad it’s me Tyler.” so I guess it’s all normal.  Plus as long as that little froggy can bring me some chocolate donuts from the pantry he can hop all he wants.

Here’s our little froggy… ready to serve.

The other really fun thing lately has been Reagan’s furniture surfing.  She learned how to pull herself up on the furniture a couple weeks ago and there was no stopping her.  You can’t sit anywhere without a scene like this…

I know you’re sitting there thinking, “Ahhh, how cute.” and Thesha and I would agree with you.  Our pants that have puke stains all over them, however, would probably disagree.  Sigh… I’m sure some day she’ll stop puking all over.  I never thought I would want something more than a kid that was pottie trained until we had Reagan and found out what it was like to have a puker.  I haven’t walked through this many wet spots on the carpet since I had a puppy in the house as a kid.  But like the puppy, Reagan is too freakin’ cute to be too upset at.

The latest, however, is that Reagan took her surfing to a new level yesterday.  We have a couple of the little walker toys and yesterday Thesha stood her up to one of them and like a rocket Reagan took off across the room.  As if the speed crawling didn’t make her mobile enough, now she’s moving around upright. 

Reagan taking her first steps with the walker

Thankfully she hasn’t learned how to go backwards or turn around yet. 

As for us, it’s been pretty much life as usual.  Thesha’s been having fun learning all the in’s and out’s of our camera lately and stumbled on a neat trick.  She was able to make it look like Tyler is disappearing.

Now you see him…

Now you don’t…

I don’t know whether to be creeped out by that picture or not.  I mean, I know it’s just a weird effect with the shutter speed and aperture setting and stuff but that’s just creepy.  I mean, what if he really disappeared.  I might have to get off my lazy butt and actually walk five feet across the room to get the TV remote.  AHHHHHHH! Frightening.