Our Day Away

I pulled off one the best surprise dates in our history. To start, I convinced Troy that we were doing something together as a family and that he couldn't make any plans for our anniversary. Secretly, I had lined up childcare for the entire day. Missy--who has done so very much for us already--stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. It should be mentioned that the bases were loaded and she, thus, scored the grand slam of being an awesome friend. I then told Troy to meet me at the church at 10:20. We had to have two cars at the church because our date would end just before my ministry team meeting started--at 7:00. I explained that I had to run an errand.

The back of the car was secretly packed with everything we needed for the day and I told Troy to wear a t-shirt and shorts. "We'll see you soon," I shouted. Lying? Fibbing? Sure. But I prefer to call it Prepping for the surprise. I dropped the boys off at Missy's and headed to the church. When he pulled up and walked over to the car a puzzled look crossed his face.

"There aren't any boys back there." Empty car seats smiled at him.

"There sure aren't." Was my reply.

(Aren't is one of those words that if you say it enough you start wondering if it's even a word. Another thing like that: my name. And now back to our regularly scheduled program.)

Then we drove to Raging Waters.

But let me explain. See, Troy and I had never been to a water park together and we'd always wanted to go. It was just something that never happened. Then we had kids and there are just certain places you don't take infants. Bars, scuba diving, bungee jumping, and water parks, to name a few.

So we spent the day at a water park. We got there around 10:45. We rode all but one of the slides--several of them multiple times. We relaxed in the lazy river. We floated in the wave pool. We laid out in the sun. And time was not interrupted by yelps of, "MOMMYMOMMYMOMMYMOMMY I neeeeeeeed youuuuu!" Nor was it disturbed by shrieks of "waaaahhhh!" Which can only be translated as, "I neeeeed formula or I will die right this instant!" It was him and me. Just him and me. The way it was on that day six years ago. Well, I mean, that was him and me and 398 other people but they brought gifts so who's counting?

At one point we checked the time, thinking it had to be around 3:30. It was 1:58. We remarked that we thought time was supposed to fly when you were having fun. But really, I think some sort of phenomena occurred whereby the fact that we were unneeded by any other human at that moment actually slowed the rotation of our world on its axis. This, I might add, is the definition of bliss.

We left a little earlier than I'd planned and had soup, salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden for dinner. It's been a long time since I've had an entire day where I didn't have to share my husband. Magical might describe it. Wonderful. Peaceful. Fantastic.

Apparently, as icing on the cake, my sons actually behaved! Today it was back to business as usual. Garrett pooped on the potty! And I'd be lying if I said that I didn't almost take a picture I was so darn proud.

It sure is nice when you can have a day completely out of the ordinary. A day where the highlight is not the fecal matter of a three-year-old. Yesterday was that kind of a day for me. I love my children. If it's possible, I might even love their poop. Although, everything about that sentence seems disturbing and wrong. But, man, do I ever love my husband.

A special thanks to my three grandparents who sent us anniversary money and funded our fantastic day. I considered putting it into the adoption fund and having homemade spaghetti for dinner but decided that we both needed time together. Time away. Time to lay on a lounge chair and contemplate the slight breeze as it washed over us. Time, for just half a day, not to think about poop.