Happy Valentines Day 2011!

We are big holiday people around here.

I pretty much go all out for any and every holiday.  And we
start celebrating weeks in advance... I think it makes life that much more fun, right?

Valentines is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the pink, the candy, and of course, I love, LOVE :)

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take the kids up to Auburn Hills for a night.  It had been about a year since we'd been to "The Rainforest Cafe" and I really wanted to see how Henry would react to the noises and sights.

We ended up getting a little bit of a dump for a hotel, (thanks Priceline negotiator...) but we still had a good time.

We left Saturday morning and spent the day at Great Lakes Crossing.  The kids had a blast- they rode the carousel, played in the giant kiddie land and ran like wild monkey's through Jeepers.  It was nice to be out of the house, doing something together, as a family of 4.  With Ryan working in Ann Arbor, its usually the kids and I.  Don't get me wrong, I love our days- and we do pretty well (besides getting stuck in our driveway last week :/) but its awesome to get out and have an extra "helper"...(aka dadda ;)

The highlight of the trip (for the kids) was definitely "The Rainforest Cafe."  The kids loved it.  Maeve surprised us both, when she reacted like a cat getting dipped in water, as we walked into the restaurant.  She was climbing up our backs, on top of our necks- completely terrified.  It took about 15 minutes for her to warm up to the place, but when she did, she was in awe.  Henry didn't really react to much- every once in awhile he'd let out a scream or shriek of delight, but he was more into the food.

Saturday night, we had high hopes for a good night sleep.  Afterall, the kids had had NO nap, and had been running like mad all afternoon.  Unfortunately, hotel rooms seem to hype them up.   And here comes the highlight of the trip for me... my kids snuggled together, eating popcorn and watched 15 minutes of a movie- WITH their arms around eachother.  Cue tears and a bursting heart :)

After popcorn and a movie, it was time for bed... the kids however, did not agree.  I have no idea how long they were up.  I lost track of the time.  All I know is that I'm pretty sure I saw every hour on the clock that night.  Henry would wake Maeve up and vice versa.  Around 7 AM, we were packed up and on the road back home.  Kind of lame... but there was no sense in hanging out in a hotel room with two wound up, overly tired, incredibly cranky kids.

Today (Monday ;)  is the "real" Valentines Day and even though we had celebrated over the weekend, I wanted to try and make it festive for the kids.  We had pink pancakes, heart sandwiches and (red) spaghetti ;)... We got each of the kids a little surprise that has kept them well occupied most of the night.   All in all, it was another LOVEly Valentines Day...

And I know I say this a lot, but I don't think I could ever say it enough... I am so blessed...so so so blessed.