Valentine's, food, and wine!

Our Valentine's Day was wonderful! We woke up and immediately got showered and dressed. Before we left the house we let Grant open his Valentine's Day gifts. Lance did all the shopping for Grant and I was so pleased with what he got. It was simple and not overdone. He had this super cute monkey Valentine's bag with red tissue paper. Grant thinks tissue paper is pretty fun, so that was perfect! Grant got a gardening set with a shovel, rake, hoe, and watering can. He was very excited to get them out of the box and play. He also got a chocolate basketball and a chocolate football, which I ate most of!

Then we headed out the door. We made plans to go to the Pancake House, a very popular breakfast restaurant. The wait was over an hour, however we planned to go there because Lance's friend from high school works there on the weekends and she got us a seat with literally no wait at all. I could not believe it! It was very generous of her. Grant had pancakes and eggs, and Lance and I had the biggest omelets you can imagine! We were stuffed!

After breakfast we decided to drive around the Ranch Bernardo and Poway areas of San Diego looking for communities in which we want to eventually buy our second home in. We are still a ways away from doing that (we need to sell our Chicago house before we buy, and that could be a few years) but it was still fun imaging ourselves in each community and talking about the positives of each location. That is where the semi cheesy picture comes in of our wedding rings. We were just having so much fun driving around. Grant was being so silly in the backseat and we kind of had one of the moments where you look at each other and say " I love you so much and always will!". Cheesy, but so sweet and deep.

Later in the afternoon Lance's grandma and her husband came down for our very Italian early dinner. If you did not know, Lance is 25% Italian......yes he looks likes a Luigi or Giovanni when he has a mustache! Anyhow, Lance's mom made some over-the-top delicious manicotti. she made a red sauce with meat and a pesto with veggies. I will get the recipe...you have no idea how good they were! Anyhow, it was such a beautiful day - I think it was mid 70's - so we ate outside and Grant got play in the backyard all day. Grant also go to open some Valentine's gifts from Non and Grandpa. He got a super cute Valentine's Spongebob book. Lance and I also got some super fitting gifts that we love. I got a new book, always a perfect gift for me. And Lance got a bar of soap! Ok, I know what you are thinking - that is the most outrageously weird gift for an occasion! And yes, perhaps it is if it were a bar of Coast or Dove soap. Have you ever heard of Kiehls? It is a skin care brand carried by Norstroms. If you are picky with you r skin care products or have sensitive skin I HIGHLY recommend Kiehls. They also have the very best chap-stick known to man! Anyhow, they also carry an oatmeal bar of soap that feels so good on your skin. Lance I love the oatmeal bar. So, that is all to say a bar of soap as a gift can really be a wonderful gift!
Later that night we put Grant to bed and enjoyed some wine! Lance's dad is a wine lover. He gets all these fancy bottle from all over the place and knows a lot about wine. It is so fun to sit around, hang out with the fam, and enjoy a couple bottles of wine!

We really had a perfect Valentine's day. It was relaxing and we didn't have to stress over anything! We hung out, ate a lot of good food, and enjoyed our family!