I have to begin this one with a shout out to my super-hubs who made it possible.
The plan was to wrap up all of the Saturday to-do’s by late afternoon so that Haven and I could have a date night like I had done the previous week with Jonah. Well, you know what they say about plans. The vet’s office where Chloe and Ebony were being seen was overbooked and, as a result, they weren’t ready to be picked up until 7:00pm, right in the middle of our special time. Knowing that Haven wouldn’t mind, I offered to go get them and bring them home and just sort of break the evening into two pieces for us girls. But, being the awesome dude he is, Michael insisted that he would take care of it.
That man, bless his heart, took a 5 year old boy (who is certifiably nuts inside of pet stores) and a baby to pick up a nervous dog and an unhappy cat. He did it successfully, I’m happy to say, and he even made this germaphobe-mom happy by babywearing, instead of putting her into the cart that who knows what kind of animals have ridden in, and covering everyone in hand sanitizer after they got back in the car.
Back to our night.
The reason why I titled this post “Girl’s Night with Haven and Marie” instead of “Date Night with Haven” is because we had a third wheel with us. My sweet Sass is obsessed with all things cat related and specifically loves Disney’s white and pink kitty Marie from Aristocats. I gave her a stuffed one, breaking all my rules about stuffed animals, on Christmas and she has adopted it as her “baby” ever since. Marie goes everywhere we go and does everything we do. It’s crazy adorable.
Haven chose to go to Chick-fil-A for dinner and then the book store in search of a kitty book afterwards. I think it was an easy choice for her to just go with what her brother had chosen but it was interesting to see how different the night out with her was, as compared to the same night out with Jonah.
She is the embodiment of independence wrapped up in sweetness.
Her choice for dinner was grilled nuggets and fries with “white dip it” (otherwise known as ranch) and lemonade. Her kid’s meal toy was traded in, however, for ice cream. That girl loves her ice cream. She requested to sit at the tall table with the tall red chairs because she loves adventure.
Most of dinner was spent encouraging her to eat so that she could have her ice cream. She was very distracted by my phone camera and took pictures of everything around her. The pretty chair, Marie, my cup; you name it, she took a picture of it. Maybe she’s a budding photographer?
After we finished her beloved ice cream, we made our way over to Wiregrass mall to visit the bookstore. It was busy and parking was full so we ended up parking a little ways away from Barnes & Noble. It ended up being great though, because we walked the mall and she was excited to stop into all of her favorite places. Up first was Gymboree where we found some super cute kitty pjs on clearance, then Build-A-Bear caught her eye so we wandered around in there, then Claire’s was calling her name so we ducked in to admire all the sparkly jewelry and accessories. It was a little chilly as we shopped but luckily, we found Daddy’s sweater in the car and Haven was more than excited to wear it.
Finally, we made it to the book store. I love our BnN because it is a great place to take kids. They have a huge kids section upstairs with books (duh), trains, and a little stage. Haven of course saw the stage and had to put on a show. I love her creativity and boldness. Her mommy wouldn’t have been caught dead on a stage as a kid, or an adult for that matter, but she thrives on it. Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious and she knows no sense of fear in social situations.
After she finished her one-woman play, we found the purrfect kitty book and enjoyed some reading time before checking out and heading home. We had a great time together and I think she enjoyed having my full attention and flexibility to do whatever she wanted. Being the middle child in a family of five doesn’t allow her to get to choose what she would like to do very often. It was good for both of us to just relax and giggle and spend time getting to know each other better. She is her mommy’s Sassy girl and I couldn’t be more blessed than to call her mine!
