Friday night at McD's

Friday night I was antsy to get out of the house and DO something.… it's the weekend, right??? So that is why we found ourselves at the local McDonald's feeding everyone chicken nuggets and fries sitting by the play place where there were like hundreds of kids screaming and crying and squealing in happiness (some of that noise had to be happy noise, I think?) I could barely hear myself speak and the tables and floor and everything in general looked kinda gross and when the kids were done eating Nate and I sat on the bench facing the McDonald's festivities (the play place), his arm around me, I am sipping fruit punch, and life is good.

Is it sad we had a fun family date night at McDonald's? I had desperately wanted to get out and DO something and this is what we are doing??   As Nate and I sat there waving at our kids I couldn't help thinking, my how things change.  When I think back on our dating life it seems so foreign now . . . our Friday nights were spent doing actual date-like things, in our own little world, being goofy, wishing curfew would never come, and saying really looong good-byes on the doorstep, thinking to myself oh my heck I think I'm in love!!!! For real!!!! 

And yet sitting there with Nate's arm around me, watching our FOUR kids! at McDonald's of all places! I couldn't help but feel so content and happy. Back then there was a lot of passion and excitement in what could come... but now, there is tenderness and intimacy in observing where we have come, the family we created, the security we have in each other.  I mean it's not like the play place suddenly got quiet and the heavens parted and a beam of light came down and I heard the hallelujah chorus, BUT I had a moment there where I was like, oh my gosh, I am really enjoying this Friday night right here, right now.  I mean from then to now... who knew?

Well the kids played their little hearts out and as we left we Redboxed (it's a verb now) that zoo movie with Kevin James to watch with the kids, stopped at Arctic Circle for some courtesy cones, and when the zoo movie wouldn't work in our DVD player we looked through our movies and found "Jumanji," I had no idea we owned it! and we decided to watch it, which then required a little talk afterwards about how games don't really come to life and people don't get sucked into board games and lions will not come to get us, neither will giant plants or giant spiders.… (um whose idea was it to show the kids that movie??? Mine?) and we kissed them all goodnight and Nate and I settled on the couch to watch "Shark Tank" where I almost immediately fell asleep, ha ha. 

So, maybe it's not exactly the stuff dreams are made of... you mean people don't plan weekends spent at the noisy, nasty McDonald's?  but strangely it feels good to know that even with that kind of a "date night" I'm happy... still in love... I've got everything I want.  It's not a very glamorous life, but then again I've always kinda been easily amused.  :)  Believe me, things get amusing around here.

What I woke up to just this morning, this is Logan.

You see?  Isn't that amusing?