Valentine's Day Revisited

We walked by a lonely heart-shaped balloon on Valentine's Day. Someone left a message on it: Love is in the air! It was a wet, cold day and I wasn't really feeling the love on Stanford's campus. Is there something about Mormons and dressing up, decorating, and really getting into holidays? I seem to remember people making a big to-do about Valentine's Day at BYU. Maybe that's just because BYU is full of love-crazed singles and sickeningly sweet newlyweds. I digress.

Will and I donned our rain boots for a morning walk to school with Britton. It was very romantic. I felt really scrubby and hoped we wouldn't run into anyone I knew. Luckily Stanford has a large, sprawling campus and a small student population so running into someone you know isn't very likely. Elliot slept in the plastic-covered stroller for the whole trip.
Will was pretty disappointed that he couldn't really go to school with Daddy. I told him that it was just a bunch of boring computers and nerds inside, but he was still really mad. Splashing in some puddles on the way home helped him feel better. By the time lunch came around he was much happier.
He likes to ride this rusty, old scooter which he affectionately calls "my skateboard". There's no rubber grips on the handlebar so I'm afraid someday he'll accidentally fall on it and impale himself. But he loves it.
He got out the Valentine's pillowcase Nana just made for him, and had a quick picnic by the playground. PB&J with oranges is the default lunch around here.
I felt bad asking someone to babysit for us on the actual Valentine's Day so we waited until Wednesday night when Britton's little bro Derek volunteered to babysit for us. He took both boys and did a great job. He actually got engaged on V Day! A DD devoted post is soon to come.

I was craving seafood so we went to the local Fish Market restaurant and enjoyed some prawns, clam chowder, and spicy tuna rolls. Then we headed to Borders to browse and pick out some books for ourselves. You can see our personalities in our book choices. It was a low-key night, but a treat considering we haven't spent much time as a couple at least since Elliot came along. Hope you all had a fun V Day too.

Vision of Valentines

Thanks for Will's first Valentine card Grandma! He really loved it as you can see. He is in to anything paper, plastic bags, and wooden spoons these days. (I don't give him plastic bags...his little grabby hands are so fast though.) As you can see from the picture, he is kind of sitting by himself now. He ends up folding his body in half.

Valentine's Day 2009 started off with a sweetheart French toast breakfast. Yummm.

Our morning was spent here at the Oakland temple. Don't get too jealous. This picture was not taken today. But what better way to spend Valentine's Day than in a place of pure joy and peace? I wish we had a picture taken there today. The cherry blossoms were blooming and petals were falling, and it was perfect!

We did a babysitting exchange twice with our neighbors today, and so we were able to go out to dinner alone! And we found the BEST Mexican restaurant that I have been to in the United States! It's called The Oaxacan Kitchen, and it's not too far away from us. I found out that Oaxaca is the "land of the seven moles." (mole is a sauce not the animal) Which I didn't really care about because I can't stand mole. You think I'd be a fan because of the chocolate part, but it's just way too thick and sweet and it just hangs out in the bottom of my stomach like a brick. When my order came it had mole on it instead of the sauce I was expecting. I decided to try it anyway, and it was GREAT! Not too thick or sweet, and with a hint of some herb maybe epazote. I could tell everything was made with high quality ingredients, and it was pretty authentic with a hint of American yuppie. So if you're in the area TRY IT! I checked their website and they also teach cooking classes. Interesting...
Just like me to talk about food more than anything else. So far, not too bad for our first V-day with a kid:) I better stop blogging though and take advantage of the rest of the day.