A Christmas Date on New Year's Eve

I mentioned in a previous post that instead of exchanging gifts this year Jamie and I would each plan a date of surprises for the other.  I took my turn this past weekend on New Year's Eve.  It was SO fun to plan every detail of the date and pack it full of activities that I knew Jamie would love.  All Jamie knew going into Friday was that we were having our date and that we'd be staying overnight in a hotel.  I think I also told him my mom would be watching the kids.   It was SO hard keeping everything a surprise, but well worth it!

So, Friday we drove to my Mom's and dropped off the three kids.  The first part of our date was a drive to the city to enjoy lunch and a visit to the art museum.  We chose a delicious Italian cafe/bakery for lunch.  The art museum was wonderful.  I wish we'd had another hour or two to spend there but we had an itinerary  to keep to, so we had to leave.  Visiting art museums is one of Jamie's favorite things to do in a city and I love it too!  It was wonderful having a few hours just the two of us.

We had to stop by my Mom's to pick up Haddie before continuing on with our date.  After giving lots of hugs and kisses to Soph and Riley (he was so sad we were leaving - it just about broke my heart) we headed out, with Haddie in tow, to the next part of our date.

So, a few weeks ago I made arrangements with another couple to meet us for dinner New Year's Eve for a double date.  This couple is SO dear to us!  Tim is Jamie's best friend and his wife Amy has become one of mine!  We haven't seen them in a year and I just knew Jamie would flip out if we got to our table and Tim and Amy were sitting there.  This was the hardest surprise to keep because I kept catching myself almost saying something about how excited I was to see Tim and Amy!

I intended for us to go check into the hotel, get settled there, change for dinner, etc... and then we'd go to the restaurant.  Tim and Amy were arriving right at 5p and then I said we'd be there around 5:20p.  Well, we made a wrong turn or something and didn't make it to the hotel in time to do all that before going to the restaurant.  We actually found ourselves really close to the restaurant while trying to find the hotel.  Well, changing for dinner wasn't actually a huge deal, but we didn't have time to go to the hotel and we were also to early to go into the restaurant.  So, I sort of pretended we really needed to change and we found an empty parking lot and changed in our vehicle!  :)  We pulled into the restaurant at just the right time and when we were seated Jamie was SO surprised and so happy.  I did it!  I kept my mouth shut and it was so worth it to see his surprise and delight!!!

I was so curious to know if Jamie had any idea all of this was going on.  He said he didn't!  He was curious as to why we were going where we were for dinner and our hotel overnight.  It seemed to be a totally random place to go, and it would have been except for Tim and Amy.  They live 2 hours from us, but would be at Amy's parents' over New Years - which is much closer to where we live.  So, I just picked a place that was close to them and close to us to meet up.  It worked out perfectly!

We enjoyed a fabulous meal and then headed out to enjoy some coffee.  We ended up spending four hours together and it was just so great to talk and talk and talk, and laugh!  We miss them already and are determined not to go a whole year before seeing them again!

After they left we went to our hotel to check in for the night.  Haddie wasn't really into going to sleep, so while she fussed we watched some TV.  Once she finally gave up we settled in to watch Inception.  We both really liked it - though it gave Jamie some really weird dreams!

The next morning we were able to sleep in and take our time getting ready to move on.  After checking out we drove an hour to pick up some bunk beds we'd bought off of craigslist.  Then we headed to my parents' to get the kiddos.

It was such a fun date.  I just love being with my husband, he truly is my best friend!  We always have so much fun together and laugh and laugh.  We are SO corny.  :)

Jamie is working on my date and I can't wait to see what he comes up with!!!

So that was my New Year's celebration.

Did you have a nice weekend??