Our First Family Date

All week Robert and I have been anticipating how the first “family date” would go. I kept telling him(and others) it was like we were going on a first date and I was not sure what to say, wear, etc. Robert said that it will flow as it should and that I should not be nervous.

We got ready for the day and of course we had to take a picture of our excited faces—those might also be scared to death faces too!! 

We headed to Columbia for the day. We decided to eat lunch first at Mellow Mushroom. We met the three kiddos there along with their caseworker; she is such a wonderful lady and has been a great person to talk with about the kids. We arrived early and got us a table upstairs. We sat and were waiting….the kiddos came up the steps and immediately ran over to us and gave us big hugs, high fives and handshakes---melt your heart!!! The girl wanted to sit by me and the oldest boy sat by Robert. The middle boy sat on the same side with me and the little girl. The first thing we did was go over names—we were called Mr. and Ms. and then “mommy and daddy” came later when we were playing at Edventure. We were a little taken back by being called “mommy and daddy” but we rolled with it and answered to those names. I still do not think they know our real names—ha ha! 

The next thing to come out of the eldest’s mouth was “when can we go to that castle y’all visit all the time?”—yes, they already want to go to Disney. Of course, this will have to wait a WHILE as the amount it will cost for 5 people is crazy. We of course got to know them a little more and know a few more of their likes. I was told that I look young and that Robert was an older man...HA HA! The boys enjoy WWE and their favorite wrestler is John Cena. The eldest wore a star wars shirt which of course made Robert smile. The girl is not a prissy girl so you know I will be working on that--she is in for a crazy overload of dresses, ruffles, monograms, and more!!

We ordered our pizza’s and the youngest two just did not want to stay in their chairs. The case worker and I redirected them and the boy did as we said but the girl decided I was “mean”. She got over that after pouting for a few minutes and decided to eat and give me “kisses” on my arm. She tried to get her way by asking Robert for the same thing I told her “no” about and he did not give in—yes, we are a team!

After eating it was time for EDVENTURE!!!  Talk about stimulation overload!!! They were soooooo excited and had sooooo much energy that it was a four hour workout for Robert, caseworker and I basically we were wrangling children the entire time. They wanted to do everything and we wanted them to do everything. We did have a few moments where we had to have time out because of running off from us. I had put in place some “rules” before we went inside and the consequence was that they would have a time out with me if they did not listen and rand off---again, I was “mean” mom but they still gave me BIG hugs and HUGE smiles throughout the day. The hit of Edventure was the grocery store, pizza parlor, fire truck and of course Eddie. Before we left, we wanted to let them take something home with them from the store. The items they picked were a PowerAde(oldest), M&M’s(youngest) and a chef’s outfit(middle). 

The day gave us some insight as to what we will need to do as parents in the future. We know that structure and proper discipline will make a great difference in their lives. We also know that the family and friends we help in molding our kiddos into the amazing men and women they will become in the future.

The day was full of laughter, smiles, running(and chasing after children), joy, and most of all our hearts were filled to the top with love. 

We will keep you posted on our next adventure….