Heading Out and Laying Low

Some people may think Chrissy and I have a problem. Some might say that we spend way too much time with our kids. We hardly ever are away from our children. Since Ivy was born 16 months ago, Chrissy and I have been out to dinner 1 time without our kids. We went to a place 1/4 mile away and called home twice while my parents watched the chilluns. Basically, we just love to be with our kids. Chrissy engages them pretty much all day while I am at work, and we party hard together when dad gets home. Tonight Chrissy stepped out big time.

She went out to dinner with her friend.

Without the kids.

For 3 hours.

Now this may seem like standard operating procedure for many women....but this was a really big deal to Chrissy. She'd never done anything like this before. But daddy came home from work, Chrissy got her stuff together and she was out the door to meet her friend. I was so glad that she got to spend some time away from the typical routine of " Mommy, mommy, mommy..." It's important.

She had a good time. She would never tell you (but I will) that she even had herself a beer with her Thai dinner. I'm glad for her. She had a great evening with her friend. Meanwhile...i had a great night at home with the boy and girl.

It started the way any good night home alone with dad ought to start....with fish sticks and grilled cheese for dinner. Money.

Once we had our fill we moved on to our nighttime activity....Fort Chewto. Named after the delicious cheese curls "Cheetos"...Gavin had called them "Chewtos" his whole life...and it's so stinkin' cute that I don't have the heart to correct him.
Basically, the concept was simple...let's build a huge fort out of furniture, blankets, and pillows (something I'd done ad-nauseum as a kid) and eat Cheetos (read "Chewtos") inside of it. Mission Accomplished.

Once the fort was built, Gavin assumed the role of "Lieutenant Cheese" and was responsible for a number of missions including:
"Operation Find-The-Baby-Doll"
"Operation Rescue-Luna" (Luna is his stuffed bear)
and "Operation Get The Juice From The Fridge"

We had a great time destroying the sun room. Here's proof:


Fort Chewto as seen from the Northern Approach.
note the blue tube opening to the right. There was a secret back escape tunnel, just like any good fort should have. We can't tell you where that is, though. We could...but then we'd have to kill you. Then there'd be no one to read this blog.


Every good fort needs a "lookout". Ours was Joseph from our crappy porcelain nativity. He did well and didn't let many enemy troops approach unannounced...(and those that did were promptly dealt with by Lieutenant Cheese).


I mean really...A "Fort Chewtos" without Chewtos is just a fort, right?


Ivy "Guarding" the northern Approach.

All in all, not a bad night at all. Here's my bumper sticker moment:

Kill your TV.
Hug Your Kids.
Build a Fort.


Be Good.