I always love when a holiday falls on a weekend. On Saturday, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a little day for love. Over the years, I've gotten pretty close to mastering the art of a simple celebration by throwing in a few out-of-the-ordinary touches that make everything a little special. Some of these touches have turned to traditions we expect and look forward to - birthday pancakes, cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning, a sleepover under the Christmas tree or a campout under the stars on the last day of school, but it's also fun to change things up and introduce new surprises along the way. And this year for Valentine's Day, I traded in a dozen red roses for a dozen red balloons. Not only were they a lot cheaper, they gave this mama a pretty fun photo op all weekend long... :)
I threw some white wrapping paper on the table and created a personalized place setting for each of us. Then throughout the day we played musical chairs and took turns writing things we loved most about each other. This was such a simple, intentional way to spark meaningful conversation and joy around the table - so much so that my wheels are now turning about ways I might invite writing on the table more often!
After breakfast, we spent the majority of the day taking turns doing things we love to do together. Cruz wanted to burn some energy downstairs so we played "don't let the balloon touch the ground" and had a snowball fight. Mila wanted to play pretend vet center thanks to the birthday girl Lyla gifting Mila with the most adorable vet kit. Beau chose an early dinner at the new Lark Brewing with a few games of Pass the Pigs while we waited. And I chose a photo shoot with two sweet kids and a dozen festive balloons.
Sidenote: It's amazing how much fun an inflated balloon has provided our household this winter. We make up games - "Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground," and add in challenges: you can only touch it once before passing it on, your group has to count each touch and make it to 100, you have to yell out a food or a name before you touch it, etc. After dinner we'll often ask the kids what they want to do the rest of the night and typically it's Just Dance, Mario Kart, or "Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground!"
Oh, the many faces of Mila!
Our final love notes to each other...
And a Valentine's Day just wouldn't be complete without some chocolate fondue. Who knew potato chips would be our favorite dipper.
It was an extra sweet Valentine's Day with my fave three. Or four, if we're counting our new little love pup.
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