So today ended up being awfully sweet. Joe and I have been trying to plan once-a-month “dates” with the girls. Last month he went on an outing with each of the girls (both of them chose Chuck E. Cheese.) This time Cece and I got to go out for a few hours just the two of us doing her activities of choice. Fortunately, lots of our interests align and we kiiiiind of had the best day.

To start with, we got manicures. This was the first time Cece had ever been to a nail salon and she could not stop raving about the experience. She was enthralled with the skill of the nail technicians, the abundance of polish she could choose from (she picked three), the hot towels, and the beautiful finished product. We are going to have to give Classy Nails in Hudson a shining review as she wishes to come back “all the time!”

Next, we walked over to Knoke’s so Cece could use her $5 gift card that has been burning a hole in her wallet. She left with a tasty selection of candy and I got myself a tub of Knoke’s Crunch which is the caramel popcorn, pretzels chocolate, white chocolate, shoe strings, and more. It’s heaven. I’m eating it now and have baby wipes on hand so I don’t ruin my clothes, keyboard, or office.

After leaving Knoke’s, we strolled on over (in the 90 degree heat) to the library. We have some trips coming up and we both needed some fresh reading material.

While we were checking our eight books out, she marveled at how amazing it is that we could just borrow eight books FOR FREE. Yes, public libraries are pretty much the best institutions ever.

To finish off our date, Cece chose Buffalo Wild Wings for us to dine at (because you can’t beat a kiddie cocktail and chicken tenders). Which was fine with me, I ordered an appetizer of street tacos PLUS boneless wings. I’m not sure which of us left happier.

I made a point of bringing my old camera with and only taking photos with that as opposed to taking any pictures with my phone. Thus, I hardly took my phone out and didn’t get distracted with scrolling or texting. It was wonderful to have about 3.5 uninterrupted hours with my oldest. I felt like we were both at our best and really enjoyed each other’s company

Love you, Cece! These past eight years with you have been the most fabulous ones of my life! I can’t wait until we can do this again!