Project Date Night '16: July

We did this date night/family fun night in the last part of July, but it's been crazy busy and I haven't had a chance to post about it until now! Enjoy this installment of Project Date Night!

We began this month's date night as a Family Fun Night.  I don't know about you, but July is pretty much the dog days of summer for me... it's HOT and as much as I love camping, I do not love camping when it's HOT.  [When I say 'camping', I mean tent camping, not RV-ing.]

Solution? Go "camping" indoors!

If you have a small enough tent (or a large enough room), by all means - set up a tent inside your home!

Our tent is too large for our living room, so we put together a makeshift tent with sheets instead. Ry was SO excited! He kept running around yelling, "FORT!" When you're 3, few things can top a fort!

Menu
You could totally go campfire with this date and roast hotdogs and marshmallows over a gas flame (if you have a gas stove) or under a broiler. I chose to do my food on the stovetop, but do whatever you normally do for camping food.

• I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to make my own version of s'mores bars. These are allergy-friendly graham cracker crust on the bottom, topped with homemade vegan marshmallow, topped with homemade dark chocolate.  Yumminess for the entire family, even with multiple food allergies. 
• Hotdogs w/ mustard (utlimate camping food!)
• Pan fried potatoes
• Hibiscus sun tea

Fun Stuff
We always bring an "entertainment bag" with us when we go camping, so of course we had to do something similar. Ry was excited to play his first board game, The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game. Super cute, and I love that the box is actually the 'board'. It's a cute game that teaches turn-taking, fine motor skills, color matching, and simple strategy (ages 3-6).

After we put Ry to bed, M and I chilled out after our crazy week and just played a simple game of Pass the Pigs. This game was a gift from my BFF, Beka.  Brought back some memories of hanging out with friends and killing time back in my single days. Pass the Pigs is a fun game that requires very little skill, brain power, or strategy. It's completely a game of chance... in this case, instead of dice, you throw little plastic pigs, then depending on how they land (on their back, on their nose, etc.) you get point. First person to a certain number of points wins. You wouldn't think something that simple would be so fun, but really, it is! Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Cost = FREE (I had all supplies on hand and food was included in the grocery budget)

How do YOU feel about camping?

Project Date Night '16: April (Star Wars!)

For Project Date Night this month, M and I did a dinner and a movie date with a Star Wars theme. Yep, I confess...I'm a Star Wars junkie. I've been eagerly awaiting Episode 7 on DVD so I could do a date night - it was fun!

Setting the Mood

To get us in the Star Wars mood early in the day, I took a picture of my screen (high-tech, I know) with the R2D2 love note up on my screen and texted it to M... saved on printer ink! :)

I also sent him a link to the John Williams is the Man youtube video. I think I've watched this video about 47 different times, but it still makes me smile. I walked around singing the song for the rest of the day!!

Menu

I think it's fun to do plays-on-words with food and theme events... obviously...

• Han-burgers (hamburgers) - We just ate them with a knife/fork on a plate.
• Leia-ed salad (layered salad) - Got the idea here, but decided not to do the mexican thing. We did sort of a chopped salad with chopped mixed greens, sliced black olives, diced grape tomatoes, diced cucumber, chopped green onion, sauteed diced red bell pepper and topped with crumbled bacon and homemade italian vinaigrette....YUM.
• BB-8's (baby carrots)
• Poe-tato chips (Boulder Canyon coconut oil kettle chips) - Wicked yummy, simple - and can you believe it, HEALTHY - chips.
• Wookie Cookies (chocolate macaroons) - I'm so glad I found this recipe! It's hard to find egg-free macaroons, but these are great. I did the stevia sweetened (sugar free) version. When the cookies were done I drizzled them with some almond butter for a Chewbacca-like two tone look.
• Lightsabers (fruit kabobs) - Green grapes for the 'blade' part, blueberries for the 'handle' threaded onto a bamboo skewer.

Movie Review

As most of you know, I have a sort of obsession with Star Wars and Harrison Ford. I loved the original 3 movies (Episodes 4-6) and tolerated Episodes 1-3... So, it was 50/50 for me whether I would like the latest installment, The Force Awakens. 

*** Spoiler Alert ***

Let's talk talent... 

• Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) gets top billing and yet he's only in 1 scene. What's with that?
• Carrie Fisher's (Princess Leia) performance seemed a little forced, but being that she's playing a character who by now is a little road-weary and has survived quite a lot of loss, it's workable. 
• Harrison Ford is the man. Ok, so I'm a little biased. I enjoyed his performance. He's his typical Han Solo cranky, sarcastic, charming, rakish self. And underneath that crusty exterior, he's loyal and has a good heart. 
• Daisy Ridley (Rey)... whoop, whoop! The girl power this series needs to take the franchise forward. Loved her character and spunk! And I mean, lightsaber duel? Yes, please.
• John Boyega (Finn) did a fantastic job. I enjoyed his portrayal of a stormtrooper-turned-hero and he plays well with Daisy's Rey.
• Oscar Isaac... apparently, "they" decided the younger cast needed a cocky pilot, so they chose Oscar to play Poe Dameron, a rebel pilot. While Poe has his good points (loyal to the cause, cares about others), I just wasn't swooning. Sorry, the role of hunky, charming, sarcastic pilot has already been filled.
• Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) also didn't impress me too much. He did a good job with the part, I just wasn't impressed with the character. Kylo Ren seems a little unstable and not nearly conflicted enough about the dark side/light side dichotomy and overall I felt the character was a little flat. 
• Throw in some random droids (BB-8 is cute) and aliens and of course, the 'bad guys' to round out the cast.  

Let's talk plot...

• Ok, so here's the rundown...scavenger/pilot desert bedouin teams up with a cocky pilot and an evil organization escapee to join the rebellion and destroy a machine capable of obliterating entire planets. 
• The evil villain was 'seduced' by the dark side of the force, is being trained by a super-evil (and really old/decrepit) genius and is prone to fits of temper, but might possibly be convinced to return to the light side of the force. 
• After much epic-ness, leaps to hyperspace, the Millennium Falcon breaking down, 'feel the force' mumbo-jumbo, lightsaber duels, and heartbreaking loss, the heroes emerge scarred, but victorious and we feel some sense of closure and an anticipation of the next installment.  

Sound familiar? Yep, I thought so. What's weird is that even though the overall plot is pretty much the same as the original trilogy, I truly enjoyed the movie and I do look forward to the next installment. To me it feels as if history is repeating itself in this franchise, but really, that's pretty true to life. 

Let's talk recommendation...

I give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It's a movie I will enjoy watching again in the future. Although I may not pull it out to re-watch frequently, and it's not quite on par with the original trilogy, I would still recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed any of the previous movies. 

Check out the trailer and more information here. 

And if you're interested, look through the parent guide here for information on language/violence/etc.

Additional Date Night/Family Fun Activities

We didn't add anything else to our date and opted for a plain jane dinner-and-a-movie date because that's what we felt up to. However, if you're looking for some additional "fun" activities...

• Pop on over to the Dating Divas and check out their Jedi Training game and Jedi medal craft
• Or, try this quick prep movie game from Dating Divas!
• Stretch your strategic brain with the Star Wars edition of the board game Risk
• Get goofy with Star Wars Mad Libs
• Include the whole family with this Sorry! board game (Star Wars version)
• Or, this Star Wars card game (similar to the classic card game War) recommended for ages 7+ 

Total Cost: Free

Food came out of the grocery budget, so nothing extra on that. I got a great deal on the movie through TopCashback - Free after the cashback during a special offer! I was planning to rent the movie from Redbox, but now I get to keep it!

Project Date Night: August (and a recipe!)

Can you believe we're into month 8 of Project Date Night? I'm loving it - it really gives me something to look forward to each month and I've been enjoying sharing our date night adventures with you as well.

I came across this water balloon basketball date night idea and thought it was just too cute to pass up. Bummer though, I don't have a basketball hoop. Aha moment: water balloon toss instead.

Anyone else remember that game from fairs or carnivals where you stand on a line and try to toss a ball (or in this case a water balloon) into numbered buckets for points or prizes? I loved that game as a kid!

Family Fun Night: Frozen (and a recipe!)

When our family went from "Just the Two of Us" to "And Then There Were Three", we decided we wanted to establish a family tradition, so we came up with "Family Fun Night", which happens almost every Friday night.

Sometimes we watch a movie. Sometimes we play a game or do an activity outdoors together. The point is, we're doing something together as a family. As we continue adding on to the family and the kids get older, we'll let them start taking turns choosing the family activity.

Granted, Ry Guy doesn't actually watch TV yet - he's too little. But, we include him in the dinner (and sometimes a portion for the activity) part of our fun night, then M and I continue the fun without him after he goes to bed. So, it's sort of Family Fun Night/Date Night. Ish.

Ry Guy {10 months old} out for a walk with the fam.

Anyway, we try to do something fun or different. We usually eat pizza (family favorite!!), but depending on the activity, we may make it a theme night where the meal or dessert somehow ties into the activity/movie.