My 1.99 night out

(big girl and hubby are chewing on my homemade bread)

Since moving to St. Louis last fall we've found that there is a variety of free family things to do in this city. Tonight the four of us packed a picnic and went to the Botanical Gardens to enjoy a free outdoor concert. Despite the stiffling heat, we all had a great time.
This afternoon I whipped up a braided loaf from our refrigerator dough so we could make sandwiches. I microwaved three veggie brats and one hot dog (for the kids to share) and wrapped them in foil. I threw in chilled pop cans, two apples, assorted sliced cheese and packets of ketchup leftover from various forays through McD's drive thru to round out the meal.
(I never throw out condiment packs from restaurant meals or drive thrus. I have a container in the doorway of my fridge to collect them all. They are really handy to have when I'm packing a lunch for hubby to take to work and I need portable ketchup or soy sauce.)

I hadn't been to the Botanical Gardens since I was 12 so this was a rare treat. The Gardens really are quite romantic in the twilight. I was feeling a bit wistful for that time before children when Hubby and I could have strolled hand in hand occasionally stopping to admire a statue or reflecting pool. There are also many little cubbies and benches which would make a nice place to sneak a few kisses. But, my sweaty little girl strolling hand in hand with me and pointing out all of the statues (one was a troll in her estimation) and remarking on everything (how bright the stars are) was quite delightful too. A child's viewpoint sometimes can be quite refreshing and humbling.
Another thing too... my boy has some rhythm. He was stomping his feet and waggling his butt all over the place to the beat of the zydeco. That is, when he wasn't running away from his Daddy. And despite the taxing call of fatherhood, my sweetie was able to enjoy his zydeco too. He's a major music lover so anytime he can get me to go see live music he'll do whatever it takes, including spending most of his time chasing a wiggly wild 18 month old.
On the way home we stopped to get some Hugo sized lemonades from McD's (.89). We were all parched from the heat. Apparently the people in front of us had ordered and paid for two ice cream cones and then left without getting them. Since we were next in line we were the grateful beneficiaries of the frosty treats.
My little guy loves ice cream cones so when he saw me hand one to his sister ( I knocked off the top in a cup and gave her bottom cone part) he started smacking his lips and making licking noises. He doesn't talk much yet. He's only really discernible words are "mama", "ball" and "go". When the smacking noises didn't immediately get my attention, then he started doing little frustrated cries. It was cute and I was feeling sweet on him so he got the other bottom part of the cone.
Right now both of our children are tucked away in their beds..tuckered out after a nice long evening out.
And hubby and I have two cone tops of ice cream waiting for us in the freezer. What am I still blogging for?
Good night.