Just for Us

To celebrate my birthday and our anniversary, Jody and I planned an entire Saturday just for us; kid-free of course. No offensive to Mallory, we love having her around especially because she's so entertaining and fun. But everyone knows that in order for parents to stay sane, we need kid-free moments too. Besides, seeing Mallory become super ecstatic once cousin Kaylee and aunt Jamie arrived to pick her up yesterday morning wiped away any guilt I may have been feeling for not including her in our celebration plans. She couldn't wait to get away from us; telling us "bye-bye" as soon as they walked through our front door, not even caring that we weren't coming along.

Our first activity of the day: a bike ride around the river. Something we haven't done since I was pregnant with Mallory. I was almost afraid that our mountain bikes wouldn't work properly since it had been so long but all they needed was air in the tires and we were good to go. As soon as we were on the trail I was reminded why I like living in Folsom so much; we're surrounded by trails and nature, and only steps away from the river. We cruised along the 11-mile loop, soaking up the sun and the scenery around us.

Next stop: massages. I love massages. The lady that did mine may have been tiny and petite, but she was no stranger to applying the pressure. You know, that "hurts but feels so good" kind of pressure on sore muscles. Too bad one-hour seems to go by so quickly when you're getting pampered. We both walked out of there half asleep and completely relaxed, big ole grins on our faces.

Third stop: a surprise concert by the river for two - well three if you count Leo. We might not be able to go see Jason Mraz when he comes to northern California this fall because tickets prices are outrageously expensive. So I decided to create my own concert. I got a portable speaker for the iPod, grabbed a couple chairs and a blanket, and we headed down to the water to listen to "Love Is A Four Letter Word" together. It's no Jason Mraz live, but it was still perfect.

Last stop: dinner at Fat's. We thoroughly enjoyed some ice cold beers, chicken lettuce wraps, honey walnut shrimp, and veggie egg rolls. I think if I were on death row and asked what I wanted my last meal to be, I would pick Fat's. Especially the honey walnut shrimp. Needless to say we ate too much; good thing we don't eat there often.

The day we devoted just for us was very satisfying. It's nice to know that after four years of marriage, a high maintenance kid, and annoying pets we still can have fun being together as a couple.