Date Night

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My goal in life is to get my little one potty trained so that we can drop them both off at Ikea's free babysitting center and go upstairs to romantically dine on Swedish meatballs together. How pathetic is that? LOL!!
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1240632806]My goal in life is to get my little one potty trained so that we can drop them both off at Ikea's free babysitting center and go upstairs to romantically dine on Swedish meatballs together. How pathetic is that? LOL!!</blockquote>


Ah yes. The end of the Diaper Phase.



One of the great celebrations in life. When you visit the Supermarket

realizing you no longer need Diapers or Baby Food. Its called NO MORE BABY AISLE DAY.

When it happens. You will still keep going down the aisle for no reason for a few months.

This Aisle will always bring back fond memories of coupon clipping and those little jars.

Now your only reason to visit said aisle will be for Q-Tips once a year.
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1240632806]My goal in life is to get my little one potty trained so that we can drop them both off at Ikea's free babysitting center and go upstairs to romantically dine on Swedish meatballs together. How pathetic is that? LOL!!</blockquote>


I see nothing wrong with that. :-)
 
[quote author="bltserv" date=1240632231]And get a good lock on the bedroom door. </blockquote>
My parents put the lock on *MY* door--on the outside. Is that F-d up or what? Scarred for life, says I.
 
[quote author="High Gravity" date=1240632683]Back in Feb., I got MLK day off but my kid did not. Little Ms. Grumpy did not appreciate that I was giggling incessantly on our way to dropping her off at preschool that day.</blockquote>


My husband took a "mental health" day earlier this year and decided to go golfing. He stupidly got out of bed before the nanny took our son to preschool and my son refused to go to school. He said, "If daddy doesn't go to work, then I don't go to school" Later that day, I told my son to never do that again and he stopped and pointed at my husband and said, "And you never do that again, either, daddy". We've since learned to stay in our room until the kids are off to school if we happen to have a day off and they don't.
 
Top-10 (and beyond) Date Nights



In no particular order. Please let me know if I'm not clear on any point, and I love to hear your feedback!



1) Long Beach ? 2nd Street ? Belmont Shore: We used to live in Belmont our first two years of our marriage. That was our honeymoon; we frequented all the shops of 2nd Street and ate almost at every one. Particular good restaurants are La Cr?pe Caf? and Open Sesame. You can also walk to the pier, beach and Naples Island.



2) Long Beach ? Naples Island: Eat at Naples Rib Company and walk it off around the beautiful canals of Naples, and enjoy looking all the beautiful homes. Bonus points if you charter a Gondola (Gondola Gateway)!



3) Long Beach ? Los Alamitos Bay: You can charter your own electric Duffy, we fit around 10-15 people a few times. The water in the bay is so smooth; take it from my wife and I; we both have terrible motion sickness and we were fine. You can picnic and drink on the boat. Also if you are more daring, you can rent canoes and paddle the bay; be sure to go up to the nature preserves. (Oh, be sure to check out Marina Pacifica, PCH & 2nd Street, it?s a great hang out spot, eat at Tantalum and see what is behind the plaza!)



4) Fashion Island ? Newport Beach: Cheesecake Factory, shopping and lots of cute children everywhere; very fun and family friendly.



5) Corona del Mar ? We love eating at that El Ranchito?s on PCH, there is a bar overlooking the sidewalk. Walk afterwards to the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and then have a Coffee Bean before going home. Again there are lots of beautiful homes and scenery along the way.



6) Woodbridge ? We love to catch a movie at the dollar theatre, go for a walk around north lake and eat either at The Fish Grill or at the Pizza Hut. What more can you ask for; a date for under $20. You can even read to each other your favorite books at the B&N.



7) Walks in General ? My wife and I love to take walks; whether it is the JOST; Peter?s/Hick?s Canyons, The Back Bay. We used to hike Crystal Cove, but haven?t done it in a while. The point is that conversations always seemed to be the best when walking. It?s hard sometimes to decompress, talk and connect over the dinner table or even at Starbucks; walking has a way of bringing up topics to the surface as you both see and observe the things around you. It?s a great symbolism, as you both walk side-by-side through life together.



8) Costco ? ok, are we cheesy or what? We simply love looking at ?junk? that we will never buy all the while sampling all the food. There were many times we simply gone, had a blast and left empty handed.



9) Disneyland ? Annual Pass ? One of the best investments you can make. The couple of years we had the pass were the most memorable. That was like the catch all of date nights; if we didn?t know where to go that was the default place.



10) Open Houses ? great suggestion? Model homes, great time to dream and get creative ideas. It?s also great; we made up so many games of excuses to say to realtors and sales people, it?s a great way of working on the marriage by developing / sending / receiving non-verbal cues from your spouse.



11) Irvine Spectrum / Marketplace / District / South Coast Plaza: All places that the wife likes ? her happy places? I just have to stop yawning and put on a happy face!



12) Balboa Island ? Similar idea to Naples Island ? Eat at the various restaurants on Main Street and try to walk around the perimeter of the Island.



13) Various IAC Club Houses ? We love ?crashing? various club houses, you be surprise how many times gates and doors remain unlock. A lot of the amenities are often left out in the open. We especially love reading and talking by outdoor fireplaces.
 
Socal, thanks for the suggestions; Glen Ivy is great actually. We went to the big one in Corona; spend the whole day there, ate there, went down to the grotto, did almost everything. I like the picture frame idea...
 
Yes - the Woodbridge lake, Costco trip, and model homes are all fun. (Does anybody know if the paddle boat / water bike rental is available to the public or just the residents at Woodbridge? I have always wondered this and tried looking online but couldn't come up with the answer.)



Model homes are the best. My husband always finds one thing to misplace. For example, one house had a plastic lobster with plastic lemons on the kitchen counter. He took the lobster and put it inside the microwave, propped up, and closed the door so if somebody opens it, the lobster falls out. So juvenile, I know, but it makes us laugh. (On our way out we heard a lady scream.)



Going to Irvine Regional Park is really nice. It is pretty big, lots of places to walk and they have a train ride. We also like the ferris wheel at the spectrum. One of my favorites is the tour boat at Balboa Fun Zone... going out on the water - getting to see the nice homes and the sea otters, etc.
 
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