Greg and I don't manage to pull off date nights. Partly, this is because our children have us wrapped around their cute little fingers, and they don't like anyone else to put them to bed. But mostly it is because by 6:30 on Friday night we're wiped out. It's all we can do to coax the children to bed a little early (which isn't too hard because they were usually finished with week sometime around 4 o'clock when the meltdowns began) and drag out poor tired bodies downstairs to watch Thursday's 30 Rock.
We would be required to pay any Friday night babysitter hazard duty pay: Mary acts like she's on speed and David starts, I believe the technical term is, "going bonkers." Besides, what would Greg and I do? Go out for a fancy dinner? Only if I could wear my pajamas! I'm usually in pajamas by 3:30 on Fridays, counting down the minutes until the kids are in bed. If we WENT OUT on Friday nights I would have to change into actual pants, which just isn't gonna happen.
(And I don't suggest going out for a fancy dinner in your pajamas. One time when I was home from college working for the summer, I decided to wear my pajamas to work. I wish I were kidding. I did this because....I was 19. Isn't that enough of an explanation? Anyway, I found out that the PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY was planning on taking me out for a fancy lunch that day to show his appreciation for all of my hard work. Then he saw me in my pajamas. And he took me anyway. It was a good life lesson.)
BUT Greg and I still like to find time to be together. Usually during the day when we are not comatose. So I arranged for us to have a morning together this week without our kids.
Want to guess where we went?
To the ice! (And, yes, I should spend less time bossing Greg around about where to hold the camera and when to take the picture and more time smiling and removing the bright green glove from my face.)
We drove out to the biggest Madison lake of them all, Lake Mendota.
(You can just barely see the dome of the capitol on the horizon.)
As expected there were ice fishermen out. Some body's prepared to ice fish in style this season:
We walked out to Picnic Point.
It's a hike out to Picnic Point. This is a hike one normally does on a trail on land. But we thought it would be more fun on the ice. Because we live in Wisconsin, you know.
My heart only skipped a beat once, when I thought heard cracking. But we made it safely.
That is a lot of ice. (There's so much ice that it reminds me of the desert. Isn't that strange? How the ice reminds me of the desert?)
The last time I saw that much ice was when I flew over Greenland.
This is Picnic Point.
Six months from now I want to sit in that bench.
And look at the water.
But for now I am dazzled by the ice.
(And my date, who loves me on the ice or in my pajamas.)
