{Anatomy of a Date Night} #latinosimparables

Marriage is a priority in my life. The Hubby and I have been together since 1999. We were young. It's been a while. We now have kids. Toddlers to be exact. A 3 1/2 year old and a Two year old. I mention that a lot. They are only 18 months apart. In our defense we were getting older and we didn't want to miss out on having kids. So, we had two, back to back. It's been the biggest Blessing of our life. It's been exhausting. It's been draining. It's been a truly unexpected journey which we didn't expect in our 30's! But, we survive every day more and more...we love our children and our life together. 

Through it all we both have degrees and pursuing our careers and dreams. Then there is every day life. People. Family. Extended Family. Friends. Etc. Etc. 

Marriage is OUR priority. In 2012, my Hubby graduated from college and  we had a series of events that started the realization that we needed adult time. Not just him and I but with friends and people who were living lives similar to ours. We started some date nights. But, it wasn't until December of last year that we realized how important date night was. It was then that my Hubby said; "Man. We need to do this once a month, at least! That's my New Year Resolution." Music to my ears. And, this man has delivered. 

We have made it a point to have a date night at least once a month, sometimes it happens twice and if we are lucky date night has occurred more than twice in a single month. ::insert happy dance here:: One of my great online friends; who I have met in person, wrote about date nights ::here::

{Gracias a Downy for making our date night a memorable one at the #LatinosImparables Jesse & Joy concert!}

Today, I want to establish what needs to happen in our home for a date night to happen...successfully:

First; we must establish WAY far in advanced a date and/or event. We have been to Birthday Dinners, Weddings, the Theater, Company Parties, Happy Hours, Concerts, Our own Anniversary Dinner, and yes even Church, did I mention Target, every date counts....we make no exceptions or excuses. 

Then; we must find a willing soul who would freely {Did I mention, FREELY} like to take on the task of dealing with not one but DOS {2} toddlers named Cami and Santi.  The Baby-sitter! Usually my Momma. She is the best. And, they love her which makes for an easy escape. Minimal tears=Carefree Momma; kind of! I still worry and the Hubby worries more... at the end of the night we end up showing every cell phone picture of our kids to everyone in the room even strangers. They must know how great our kids are. 

We must then figure our logistics. Time frames, pick up/ drop off locations, number involved in party, and supplies needed to care for the party of two and how we will get ready/ meet up and what time we should leave to our event. Trust me coordination and communication is key in operation "Let's Get this Party Started". I may think of hiring a helicopter in the future, just sayin'...

Finally, we make our great escape into adult land and start our night.   

Sound simple enough? Sure, it may seem simple on paper, but it's taken us a little practice and time to get our act together!  We have both placed the same effort into every outing which makes for a very successful and fun night! 

What about you; how do your date nights usually go?  

{Kemah~Spring Break 2013} Locally Inspired...Kinda

Funny how at times inspiration to do more locally comes from 1,523 miles away... trust me, I Googled it. 

My Social Media-Cali-Amiga from Raised by Culture, Xenia... said to me....after I posted about being in an "inspiration rut"....

 "Connie - I'm a huge fan of bloggers that talk about local stuff, I especially loved your taco truck post and when you went to Sam Moon... are there other local things you can share?"    

To which my local wheels starting spinning... 

Now every time I step outside I think local! 

First was the Rodeo... which this year we opted out of with the kiddos... as much fun as Rodeo is and can be... uhm not so much for a 3 and 2 year old, waiting in line and big crowds are a bit overwhelming for adults so you can only image for TWO-terrible two-er/horrible three-er-Toddlers... it was fussville last year and not-so-fun-ville for Momma and Daddy... 

Therefore, for our first day of Spring Break, even though our kids don't go to school, my Hubby took the day off and took his little family OUT! To enjoy a day together and the somewhat good Houston weather... we went to a little place about 45 minutes from our home...called Kemah! The Kemah Boardwalk to be exact.... 

Places like this in Houston remind me of why I am such a city slicker, who lives in the suburbs, ha.ha. I love the city, I hated working in it but I love all of the amazing surrounding areas of Houston. It's truly a place that has grown in the last 14 years since I arrived here to start college, whoa, that makes me sound way old! Way. Moving on... 

Kemah. It has the best of the best; rides for truly all ages and levels of heart-attack desired... and then of coarse, who can go wrong with amazing seafood! I love the concept of building little cities within and/or around a bigger city! It gives you a sense of adventure at only about 45 minutes away. You don't spend much on gas or overnight stays and you get to enjoy a fun filled day of amusement without ever leaving home. 

Here is some of what we did on our first day of Spring Break 2013.. 

It was a Blessed day, the kids had a blast and my Hubby and I loved it. No stress, no long lines and HUGE smiles on everyone's face! 

{RenFest} Tradiciones

Source: RenFest Website/Logos

Every year we try to attend the Texas Renissance Festival in Todd Mission, Texas, it's about 45 minutes to an hour away from where we live in Houston and it turns into an all day adventure! 

This year we went as a big group; my parents, my Hubby's Sis, Hubby's Brother and Hubby's Mom and my Sis and her son, as well as us and our kids! It was fun. A bit overwhelming at times as there is SO much to do, see and EAT!

Every year I think we get a little better at visiting all the kid friendly areas eating in the same spots and attempting to take it all in!

It's a magical place filled with so many characters it's easy to get drawn into all the fun and activities!

I think it's a nice yearly tradition that we can look back on once the kids are older. I used to go as a child and it's definitely something the entire family can enjoy! If you want to see all the shows and try all the food I suggest you go early and leave after the fireworks! This year we didn't stay until the end, it was too cold, and the kids were tired! But, we had a lot of fun and everyone had a great time!!!

Building lasting traditions is very important to me. I always think back at all the things we used to do as kids with my parents and appreciate that my parents took the time to invest in us in a happy and lasting way! Not just that, no matter how bad things get we always have the good, happy moments that we spent as a family; laughing, sharing hugs and loving one another. 

Warning the post has a picture OVERLOAD!

Enjoy:

{THERE ARE MORE PICTURES.....But, some how I ran out of space to post them on Blogger.... so you can click ::HERE:: to see the rest!!! A little upset but will be working on it this weekend!!!!}

Hope you have a great weekend!!! 

Epic Fail.

Yes, it's what I thought after my Husband circled the HLS&Rodeo grounds for the millionth time... no joke. How people/parents leave their homes with a 2 1/2 year old and a One year old is beyond me. I admire you strong women and men of faith in your ability to be or become some kind of a Super Hero for a day!  

I really do.

We went to the rodeo. We were totally OVER the rodeo about 5 minutes before we ever got off the car and then we went home.

We felt like everyone was watching the chaos as it walked passed them. We got on one ride and saw about 2 and half animals. The kids were not having the long lines and the whole...lets wait for an hour to see a cow chew on hay while it lays on the ground and stares at the wall. Go figure.

It was not a good day and for about a minute we thought about sitting and crying but then we got through it and realized that there are some events, places or situations that you just shouldn't bring into the life of a clueless 2 1/2 year old and One year old, like taking them to really expensive over-rated adult like events, like the uhm Rodeo or Monster Jam. We, I hope, have learned our lesson and will only ever attend events that clearly state how kid friendly they truly are. But, in the end we thought about it all and laughed it off, slept for about 15 hours and thought about what we may do next weekend. Ha. We will never learn...

Here are some pictures from that lovely day..... it was lovely nonetheless!

{Anticipation} ♥

It's what killed the cat right? Or was it procrastination? Who knows.

Ha.

We have a couple of things coming up in 2012! {Big YEAR. I can feel it.}

First off...Cami Bell {Camila Isabel} turns the big HUGE UNO...Siiii. En Marzo.Y vamos a tener una FIESTA.... literally.

Here is a little sneak peek:

Then there is {May}! I think May will have it's own breed of special posts. Filled with so much PRAISE to God and Thanks-giving! May. May 2012. Class of 2012. It will all have such a deep meaning. The month. The year. {Tears fill my eyes as I type this.}

When we look back on May of 2012 we will be able to tell our children; that was the year your Daddy graduated college! After much sacrifice and hard work. For himself, for us, for you. He finished college. Some people may not see it as a big deal. I say. IT'S A HUGE DEAL. I am more than proud of my Hubby and his accomplishments. When we set out to create our own little family we knew that getting an education would be a number one priority.

Now that day could just be right around the corner. It doesn't become "official" until about the 24th of this month, but we can't wait to find out! {Holding my breath..until then. Not literally.}

{Mini Post-Within a Post?}

I realized that some days I have ONE word post. Because, I guess that's all it takes. One word. And, other days my titles are long. Long. Because some days need more words than others. Just a thought. Ha.

It's Sunday. Tomorrow Monday. Ahii. Here we go again.

Thank You God for this Blessed day. I pray that we shine in the week to come...with your light, your favor and your grace.

Amen.

{SantiDay} ♥ Monster Jam 2012

This past weekend we decided that we needed to start dedicating one day, an entire day, to our little man. It’s a difficult task being an older brother; what with all the extra mess making and tantrum throwing to assure as much attention as his chunky, big round browned eyed Lil’Nena {aka Baby Sister Cami}. We try not to make a difference between them and give them the same amount of attention but that little Sister of his is such a ham and she knows it.


We love them both the same but we just wanted to remind Santi how special he is and how much we love him. We decided to take him to this year’s Monster Jam {for you more experience Momma’s, you don’t have to wait to say “I told you so…” cause now I know} we bought our tickets early and made it a point to remind him that it would be his special day.

He loved it for about oh, a whole 10 minutes {an hour really, we were surprised he lasted that long} but we made it through the first half and by the second half… we were walking out the doors and down those ramps at Reliant Stadium….it was so worth it though, we had so much fun and so did he! Next SantiDay will have to be more age appropriate! HA. We learned a very expensive lesson today; 2 year old's don’t need expensive days out just days with lots of attention and love! He just loved being the center of attention and didn’t care where we were… he loved the Monster trucks and was only scared for a bit…

Here is our first ever {SantiDay} at Monster Jam 2012: