Date Night - Much needed Sanity

Brian and I try to get a babysitter and go out alone every couple of weeks. We need to do it for our sanity. You need "alone" time with your spouse when you have kids - you HAVE to make that happen. I am not someone who thinks your children always come first. Wait, let me explain - Yes, they are obviously very important and they always come first - however you can not put your marriage on hold or have it not exist while you raise your kids. You won't have a marriage pretty soon if you do that. You must make time for you and your spouse, no matter how you do it.

We don't have a whole lot of extra help, so we make due with what we have. If I had my way, I would plan a date night every weekend, but we just can't do it. We have a really trustworthy & reliable babysitter (that comes to our house) and we use often - thank goodness for Jill! Most times, we go out for a nice dinner and a glass of wine, and just relax, talk, laugh and enjoy the time without children.

This past week, we asked Jill to come on a Thursday night. We took the boat out and anchored in a small cove... we had some appetizers and a glass of wine, listened to nice music and relaxed while watching the sun set ... and watched day turn to night & watched the stars come out. (Not too many stars that night as it was kind of cloudy, but it was still nice!). It was a cool night (maybe 60 degrees on the water) and once the sun went down, we were one of the only boats out there.... we had a blanket with us and we snuggled under there to get warm.

Sunset as we were heading up past Racoon Island. 

Our romantic dinner... 

So beautiful & peaceful to look at while being the only ones out on Lake Hopatcong. 

You'd never know there was a house every 40 to 60 feet along the shoreline of the entire lake from these pictures; and the lake is 9 miles long with many little coves, islands & bridges.