So this was our very first date... well kind of. For Christmas, I found a sweet little gift for Mesha. I stumbled on a video advertising an adventure datebook. What is that? Well, basically you have 52 different activities to choose from for that special date with your loved one. The catch is you don't know what they are until you scratch them to reveal the information about them and what the challenge beholds. Anyhow, I loved the sound of it and I know Mesha is always encouraging me to make more times to go out on dates.... which is almost impossible when you have 4 kids and you run a busy cluttered life. Well, I took the plunge and bought her this as a gift in the hope it would help motivate me to make more time for dates with my sweetheart and also make good quality memories to cherish.
So that is what I meant when I said that this was our first. Of course, we have been on many dates before, many times they are rushed, last minute and pretty much-lacking creativity. Let's go grab a bite to eat or go watch a movie kind of thing. This is all cool to hang out but probably lacks a little bit of intention or spark and therefore the motivation gets a bit low.
Today was Valentines Day and it was also the Sabbath day. This meant saddling up for Church and a mostly chilled kind of relaxing day. Luckily for me, Cheyton had a pretty bad cough last night so to avoid the funny looks at Church that this Covid-19 period has produced, I stayed him with him while the others trundled off. We decided that we would activate one of the secret dates from the book. From the hints in the book relating to the title we had decided to scratch off, it didn't require us to spend any money, but it did suggest we get a baby sitter. Enter Mum and Dad. They happily took all the kids off our hands after church without any clue as to how long we would take.
Mesha and I sat together and scratched off the "Ask your Parents" title while we both excitedly took obligatory record photos for our social media shares. The basic plot of the challenge was to call your parents or grandparents and ask them all the details about their first date together. We asked about what they wore, where they went, who asked who out and many more questions. we even quizzed further into what impressions they had of each other from the first date, what stood out to them about each other and anything else that they noticed. It was actually super cool finding out more about these encounters they had and I could tell on their end that it was a little bit exciting reminiscing about the experience they first shared together all those many moons ago. The outline of the stories was reasonably familiar, but it was quite refreshing hearing the more intimate and critical details from the foundations of their relationships.
We all shared a good laugh together on our video calls with Mesha's parent communicating with us all the way from New Zealand and my parents although only 10 minutes away, trying to juggling looking after our kids and a visit from my brother Paul and his family too. What was hilarious was them digging into those old archives about how they felt about things and about what actually mattered along with what colour mini skirt was really worn and who money, cars and pink ties were borrowed from. My parents first date was an outing to my dad's cousins 21st birthday. Dad donned on his bets brown suit and apparently, Mum in her homemade green mini skirt was followed by the paparazzi all night. Grandma was a bit crabby and as dad puts it "Grandpop was still alive" that's why. The Fawn Toyota Corona was the chariot for the night and after a wonderful evening, mum had found a return date to the wedding she was solo attending the following week. The back story details also added further enlightenment. The embarrassed grease monkey Donny picking up his sister from Mums sisters house and being dragged into the home by my Nanna to a room full of guests all dressed in Sunday best set the stage. Oh, what a Soapie.
Mesha parents were equally as amusing. The spiritual background of how a couple of prayers helped them on their collision course. This helped set the stage for what could have been a very awkward first date at a seaside restaurant in Pahia N.Z. as opposed to average fish and chips in Kaikohe. A very shy awkward young man stepped out of his comfort zone to ask the new YSA girl out and then quickly pieced the deal together by borrowing money from his parents, a flash car from his sister and a pink tie from his brother in law to impress the new lass he had his eye on. The date, of course, began with a prayer, which just about sealed the deal there and then the deep and meaningful conversations began. When Papa didn't blink an eyelid when Nanna dropped the Clayton (C-word) bomb - the child she had before her mission, the fairytale had basically just begun.
What we had now was the task of trying to recreate their respective dates. Well, we are a long way from a nice place to eat in N.Z and I don't think we could easily find a 21st birthday to gatecrash, so we had to quickly come up with an alternative plan that would somehow resemble the stories we had just been told. couldn't find anything in my wardrobe that would replicate the Brown suit my Dad had worn and although we did have a couple of pink ties, it didn't quite match my outfit complete with classic golfers cap. Yesterday for some reason I had pulled out some salmon steaks and Mesha had grabbed a bottle of red grape juice, plus there was a leftover box of Ferrero Rocher from Christmas. The beach was a little far out of the way and the weather was hot and humid with threats of rain so we decided on a closer location in Viveash to a table on the riverfront.
The leisurely stroll to our solid wooden table was lovely. This had been a spot we had come to recently to discuss a couple of serious matters that had been affecting our relationship, but we had also come here for a family burger night during the covid period and on several very hot days had ventured down to swing off the rope swing into the river. As the Sandalford winery boat cruise began its launch on the other side of the bank, we laid down our stark white table cloth and began pouring drinks and setting up our delicious glazed salmon steaks, salad, fruit and chip luncheon. Attempting to recreate the perfect Instagram photograph before indulging in our homecooked meal, Mesha placed on of the glasses on a rocky bit of the table causing it to tip over, spilling the freshly poured juice and shattering the glass. We did not let this spoil us as we polished off the delightful food and finished it off with a couple of slightly melted chocolates. With the bright sun reflecting on us and the ants advancing we decided to call time on the date and ventured home for some more cuddles.
What a beautiful date and a very sweet and enjoyable Valentines day. As the days began to near, we travelled up to my parents to pick up our kids while also sharing a recount of our adventure with my parents, my brother and his wife.
Until our next adventure, which won't be too far away at all. By the way, Mesha gave me a "Smearkin" I loved it.
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