Date Night Shenanigans

I have written countless times about the importance of date nights with your spouse. Whether it is a no-technology night in or a big night out on the town, it needs to happen. Sometimes we get burned out with doing the same thing over and over again (Friday night dinner out followed by a Redbox movie, don't knock it til you try it!). This past Friday my extroverted beloved decided he needed to be around people. We considered heading to a local single-A baseball game, but decided against it. It's a good thing we did too, we ended up having about 8 inches of rain in 2 hours! Anywho, we ended up heading to the mall and joining every middle schooler in Concord at Dave&Buster's!

Okay, okay you can stop laughing now. We ended up having a lot of fun! We're both the eldest in our families which leads us to be super competitive. While he beasted me at most of the other games you ae looking at the reigning skeeball champ-wahoooo! 

A few pictures from our evening. . .

Where we spent the large chunk of our time.

What's an arcade visit without a few shooting games?

I married a winner.

Whackin' moles like a champ!

We ended up having a lot of fun and will be heading back very soon! 

What are you favorite date nights??

Spring Break-Day 5 (Nassau!)

I woke up super early Wednesday morning with the excitement of a little kid-we were in Nassau! Today was the day we got to swim with dolphins! Trying to contain my excitement was nearly impossible, so I woke up David and we got moving. In my extreme excitement I insisted we get off the boat an hour early. You know,  just in case. Well, rest assured we were there in plenty of time, so we occupied ourselves taking pictures.

 

After waiting in line and taking a quick ride from the boat to Atlantis (where we would be doing the actual swimming) we arrived:

Not too shabby, huh?

Our "visit" with the dolphins didn't start until 12:10, so with a few hours to burn we explored! We saw all sorts of fishies and sea creatures all around. We also hopped in the gorgeous clear-blue water  for a bit.

Please forgive the horrible quality of the following pictures, but they wouldn't let us bring our cameras with us. I guess that was their way of getting us to buy the photo package, which we totally did. The following images are pictures of pictures. Ghetto-fab, I know. . .

I loved every second of it, but David was not so into it. He was scared that any second Noah (the dolphin) would suddenly lose his mind and attack. We live to tell the tales, so he didn't. It was so neat getting up close and personal with them!

 Since it was Steve's birthday our waiters brought his dessert with a candle and had the dining room singing!

There was also a singalong from the dining room staff. Andrew (left) and Boris (right) got a little too into "Apple Bottom Jeans"!

 We must have been blessed by the cruise gods because Steve was chosen to participate as the team captain for the Scavenger Hunt at that evening's show. The premise was that the host would ask for semi-ridiculous items and someone in the room had to have them (you could not leave the room to find it). The team that had the most items won. It was so much fun scrambling around for some pretty random items in our purses and pockets. 

The game got even better when they requested one member of the audience be wrapped in toilet paper, as if in a wedding dress. David was our guinea pig:

The final way to earn points was to dress your team captain like a woman. Steve rocked it!

 What better way to celebrate your birthday than with a Carnival Cruise victory??

Come back tomorrow for Day 6 in Freeport!

Beach Blowout

What is about the beach that is so relaxing? Is it the waves crashing? Or the sand between your toes? Or is it the knowledge that you are on vacation and supposed to rest? Whatever it is, I want to bottle it and carry it around with me always. We just returned from our final beach trip of the summer and I am bummed. Don't get me wrong, it was an incredible trip. I'm just bummed that it's over!

We arrived at David's Aunt Debbie's house on a Thursday evening and headed back nine days later. Talk about a week and a half of bliss. In that time we hit the beach many times, I got my very first facial (and a follow-up!), hit the outlets a couple times (and scored some stellar deals!), ate at multiple different restaurants specializing in yum, introduced the princess to the sand and saltwater, and visited with family. Needless to say, bidding this vacation goodbye was difficult. Here are a few pictures giving you a glimpse of our bliss:

So peaceful.

Working on those Crossfit handstand push-ups.

Game night!

First trip to the beach for the cousins.

My fabulous find of the day-$40 Michael Kohrs wedges!

Catch of the day.

Following a yummy seafood supper.

Bliss.

Can I go back??

Beach Essentials!

It's that time of year, folks! The time of year when we're all itching to get our toes in the sand and booties in a beach chair. We actually have a few trips scheduled that I am counting down the days to! Before we can depart we must pack a few beach essentials to make the most of our trip. A few things to toss in the bag before you leave:

1. Books and Magazines
   What is more perfect than hours of uninterrupted reading of your favorite books and magazines on the beach? Not much! 
   
2. sunscreen
   Cancer is not cute. End of story.
   
3. Refreshing Liquids
   water, beer, whatever your poison of choice you definitely need something to stay hydrated!
   
4. hat and sunglasses
   Along the same lines as sunscreen, these are crucial for protecting that precious skin on your face.
   
5.  Games
   This is more for those beach goers like my husband. While I am perfectly content to sit in my chair and rest for hours. My hubby on the other hand would rather die a slow, painful death than sit still on the beach for that long. Our games of choice are bocce ball and corn hole!
   
6. Towels and Chairs
   Whether you're going to sit there for the long haul or just to regain your energy, they are essential!

What is on your beach essentials list??