Kelvin doesn't even have to ask anymore, "What do you want for your birthday [insert Mother's Day, Christmas, name your holiday...)?" I have gotten pretty anti-consumerist in the past few years, already have plenty (or too much) stuff, and now really appreciate experiences, travel (places), and kid-free time more than anything. I (always the introvert) have had a really hard time (with two kids, one of whom is a still night-waking infant, and the other a very intense toddler) recharging in recent months due to work and call demands as well as parenting amidst a lot of travel and kids 24/7, and Kelvin (and really, his family's) gift to me this year for my thirty-seventh was a child-free ~24 (ended up being 26) hours! In past years for my birthday, we've done a similar date-getaway, one year to a Warriors-Lakers game, and, last year, to see the musical Hamilton. Our date was a bit more low-key this year, but we had a wonderful date day (including our first hotel night without a waking baby, although it did include a breast pump and pumping sessions).
We left the kids with Kelvin's saintly parents (equally saintly auntie Kat took Iver and Kingston on a fun day out and about to Billy Bees, an indoor play area, and later to a park), and headed to a local Chinese massage place. We had In-N-Out for lunch, and caught a very powerful movie, The Hate U Give, a social justice drama (based on Angie Thomas' book of the same name I've wanted to read but haven't yet), at a Long Beach theater.
Strange Orange County fall mall juxtoposition: a splash pad next to a decorated Christmas tree
We checked into Spring Hill Suites by Marriott, I enjoyed making reading headway on a very lyric, heartbreaking novel (The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai) about the 1980s AIDS crisis in Chicago, as my usual reading routine is something like this: around 8 p.m. when the kids are in bed, I try to read a novel, but fall asleep about 20 pages in.
We had spicy crawfish, shrimp, and cajun fries at an early dinner at Boiling Crab, before returning to the hotel (I did, in fact, fall asleep reading, but woke up near midnight to pump and read a bit some more after my evening nap :)).
We enjoyed "sleeping in" (to 6:30 for me), and I got to exercise in the hotel gym, enjoy a meltdown-free breakfast without dishes to do, did some on-line Christmas shopping, and ate a quick lunch of Boiling Point hot pot before heading home to reality.
It was a lovely, relaxing birth date and I feel rested for the first time in months. Thank you to my husband and wonderful in-laws for such a gift. Thank you for all of the birthday texts and messages! I am thankful in this week of Thanksgiving!
