Our First Mommy and Son Date

Parent and child dates are not something I grew up with.  The concept is totally new, introduced to us by friends and pastors we respect.  Personally, I love the idea!  I actually think it is important to have that focused one on one time with my children.  I think it's a great way to let them know with our actions how important they are to us.  Since Oliver is so young, for now, it is a way for us to just spend time together without anyone else.  As he grows older I hope it can be a time for us to talk about life. 

Today we had our very first mommy and son date.  Oliver loves going on walks, and he has been indicating that he'd like to go for one since Friday.  Sheree, my mother-in-law, had sent Andrew and I Starbucks gift cards as a thank-you for welcoming her into our home for her recent visit, so Oliver and I walked to a close by Starbucks.  I got my new favorite drink, an iced americano with white mocha, and Oliver got some chocolate milk.  We also splurged and bought an old-fashioned doughnut to share.

We sat outside and watched birds as we drank our drinks and ate our doughnut.  I totally meant to get pictures of that part, but forgot until after we were walking away.  I did snap a few pictures of Oliver drinking his chocolate milk after we'd left Starbucks.

Enjoying his chocolate milk.

After our trip to Starbucks we took a little detour on our way home and visited the Philips Plaza Farmer's Market. 

The Farmer's Market was so packed!

We stopped for a bit to listen to this harpist.

We walked through the market twice.  I almost bought some carrots and green onions but I didn't have anything to put them in and it didn't look like the vendors had bags for the produce either.

After that we headed home to find Daddy and Wynter taking a nap.

Next week it's Andrew's turn to take Oliver out on a daddy and son date.  We plan to rotate each week who takes him out.  We won't always do something that costs money, we can go to a park, or go swimming, or take a walk with no specific destination.  Someday we'll add Wynter into the rotation, but I don't know when.  We didn't really plan that we'd start this when Oliver turned 23 months old, it just seemed like the right time to start. 

I actually had lots of fun.  It felt like such a special time for me and Oliver to bond and I can't wait for our next one!