Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Frugal Date out with My Hubby.....

For our anniversary this year, I surprised Joe with a date a month.  Some time where we could hopefully get alone time.  That is so hard for us.  I hate to ask my brother and his wife to take the kids all the time, and sitter costs add up for 4 kids (and I always feel like I can never pay her enough because of the challenge the kids can be).  We honestly do not get out together enough.  We celebrated 15 years this year, and our goal is to try and focus more on us as a couple.  

So the date ideas I gave him were no cost or very low cost.  We are always up for trying new adventures, so I signed us up for a river canoeing adventure with our local parks department.  A 3 mile tour around one of the islands in the Maumee River.  Cost was $24.00.  My brother and his wife watched the kids for us, so not cost for sitter (we traded dates with them so they could go have lunch and watch a movie another day...lol).

Here's some pics from our adventure....

 We put our own canoes in the river, those things are HEAVY!!!
 Pictures were hard to take.  Trying to paddle, the sun was bright (and I was using Lydia's camera without a eye view-finder) made it a challenge.
 You can see the erosion on the island from the river current.
 Some of the wildlife we saw.
Turtles sunbathing...
My strong steering guide :)
 So we were not completely alone, but it was so nice to hear the silence and calm in the areas as we paddled along.
 More wildlife ... blue herons
Largest earth filled bridge.  The Interurban Bridge, which crosses the river at the park, was the largest bridge that was filled with earth and reinforced by concrete.  Today the bridge, which formerly served as part of a commuter rail line, is in ruins.
The large rock in front of the bridge, is the Roche de Bout (also spelled Roche de Boeuf) is a big limestone outcrop which forms an island near the center of the Maumee River. It was a landmark for early explorers and natives. The landmark was used by the MiamiShawneeLenape and their allies as a location for councils. Leaders of these tribes met there before the Battle of Fallen Timbers with General Anthony Wayne in 1794, which was a pivotal battle for the settlement of the Northwest Territory.

We survived the 3 mile paddling adventure.  I was pretty sore the next day, but it was so much fun.  We definitely will be doing this again.

(Refreshed Daddy and Mommy)

Some ideas for cheap/frugal dates:
1.  Picnic lunch at a local park.
2.  Go out for lunch, instead of dinner (cheaper meal prices).
3.  See a movie at matinee prices.
4.  Take a walk along a river and pack a favorite dessert picnic.
5.  Rent a hotel room (search local sites to find good deals), and enjoy the hot tub without kids during the afternoon.  If you do not have a sitter for the night, pick up your kids after you spend some time together, and then have a wonderful family night of swimming and pizza.  -- This could cost a couple hundred dollars...but we want to do this with the kids at least once this year.  We get alone time, but don't have to worry about an overnight sitter.
6.  Have a special dessert planned and watch a favorite romantic movie after the kids go to bed.

Hope you all have some time alone with that someone special.  Remember hugs and 'I love you' goes a long way!!!


6 comments:

  1. That sounds like an awesome date! Sad to see that bridge in ruins though. Happy 15 years!

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  2. Love that date idea. What a great price for a lovely canoe trip.

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  3. What a great date! Inspired me to do something for my hubby! Thank you!

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  4. Love your ingenuity date-wise! I never seem to think "outside the box" on things for us to do! :) More couples need to focus on time for themselves...I applaud you for doing so!

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  5. That would be such a fun date! My husband and I enjoyed playing on a lake with kayaks last summer. Someday, we'd like our own. :)

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  6. Looks like a great date! We have the same problem with finding a sitter as we have 9 kids.

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