First Dates of the Year

 We're off to a great start for one-on-one dates in 2022!

First up- Daddy and Emma went to the movies in January.  They wanted to see Encanto again but it's already out of theaters so they watched The King's Daughter and loved it!  (Emma did anyway, I'm not sure how much Daddy really cared about the mermaids and princesses, but he loved being there with his little princess!) Bonus- they had the theater entirely to themselves!

And in February, finally, after years of talking about it and never doing it, Adam and I made our way up to Seven Oaks ski hill. We didn't know what to expect from a ski hill in Iowa, but it was great!  The lines were short, the hills were very nicely groomed, and the runs were fun!  Adam and I did every run in the park, with the exception of the one 'black' called the Eggbeater that, as best we could tell, was just a bumpy and slightly steeper run on the side of one of the blues. 

Adam is the best skiing buddy, and we had a really great day. The weather was perfect in the upper 20s, the sun was shining for most of the day, the wind was minimal, and the company was fantastic!  Family time is my favorite, but these one-on-one dates just might be my favorite favorite.  

Adam and I had all day in the car, on the chairlift up and at the bottom of the slopes to talk and laugh and share stories and thoughts and it was just awesome. 

Lunchtime- chicken noodle soup hit the spot!

And then we were back on the slopes. 

Okay, the views weren't quite as stunning as they are when we go skiing out west, but that didn't dampen our fun at all.  

Between flying onto a dirt road on the drive home, laughing about the teensy tiny towns we were driving through and the idea of skiing in Iowa at all, the ski pole high fives, conversations about flying bicycles, and slightly more serious chats about what middle school will be like next year, whether Adam is ready for a phone and what he likes to do in his spare time, this day was full of all of the best parts of the one-on-one dates that we have with each of the kids every year. 

Plus, just look at how much fun this is!

Adam was braver than me and even tried some of the freestyle jumps!

This was a day to remember.