Happy Thursday! I'm able to write today because the craziness of Homeschool Co-op Wednesday is behind me and I can chill out today a little bit. I know I've had a lot of informational blog posts lately, so I wanted to share something personal with you today: spring dates with my kids (and of course I think you should take your kid on one as well, no matter how old they are!).
I got some writing checks all at once and decided it was time to take each of my kids out on a small date. Nothing spectacular like in the past (present, full meal at sit-down restaurant, dessert, going somewhere to play), but just an hour or so alone and some food. I knew if I waited until I had the money to do something fancier and waited until we had the time, it would not happen. So off we went!
**I know some people with big families with older kids who take their kids one at a time on a nice long WEEKEND trip somewhere by train ... that is my ultimate goal: to take each kid somewhere like Chicago alone so we can explore and chat.
I grabbed Joel, age 16, first because he is the busiest out of all of us. He is either working or doing schoolwork or reading or with his friends. On a Monday afternoon we went to Taco Bell in Raymore and got some snacky stuff and just sat and talked. Our Taco Bueno in Belton has been closed since last summer when the roof caved in during a storm, and I have to tell you they have missed out on hundreds of dollars from the McLoughlins moving to town. They need to open back up! Anyway, we forgot to take a picture so I grabbed this insanely great selfie outside our garage when it was crazy windy.
10-year-old Eva was next on Tuesday at lunchtime, and she chose Taco Bell as well. By this time I was having a real craving for the spicy tostada, so I was happy to go. Look how happy she is! One-on-one time with me is hard to come by, and she chatted me up. Oh, before we went there we got her bangs trimmed up in Peculiar at Shear Serenity.
Thursday for lunch, Sam, age 8, wanted to go to Freddy's Steakburgers in Belton. We got yummy cheeseburgers and fries and sodas, but he wasn't very talkative so we just chilled. Then he got a dirt and worms concrete.
That night was Callie's turn. She just turned 13 and wanted a smoothie, so I found The Smoothie Shop in Belton and off we went. Highly recommended! But she also wanted some food so ...
We went right up the road to Arby's, where she got a roast beef and cheddar sandwich. Once they hit teen years, they don't always love to have their picture taken, but if you are a kid of mine, you gotta do it! Mommy likes her pictures for posterity! SMILE!
Friday, 14-year-old Michael and I were going to head to Freddy's but, alas, it's LENT and so we were not having meat that day. So we waited until Saturday to go. We got our yumburgers and fries and drinks, but he was thinking a smoothie was more his style than a concrete (plus he gave up ice cream for Lent), so The Smoothie Shop it was. It was an exciting day at Freddy's with a couple of altercations between customers and workers and customers and their children ... never a dull moment in Belton, we are learning.
So that ends this episode of The Kerrie Show Takes Her Kids on Dates ... Belton and Raymore, Missouri did very well monetarily and the "date envelope" is empty. I need to start filling it back up with cash for the Mr. and Mrs. Aron McLoughlin date ... which I know for a fact won't be held at any of the places I took the kids because he has an EXTREME aversion to fast food (except for Chick-fil-A).
Leave me some great date ideas in the comment section please!!!! And I'd love to hear about dates with your own kids ... include a link if you have a blog post about it!
Have a great Spring season!!!!!!!!!!!
