Dating the principal

Scheduling dates as a homeschool mom can be a challenge. This past weekend though, both boys were gone for the weekend (oldest went with his Auntie on a classic car tour, while the youngest went to Grandma's house) so Date night times 3!
Date Night number 1: Grilled Flat Iron Steak with marinated onions and asparagus on the back patio watch the campfire!
I don't normally grill frozen steak ,but this time it worked. I preheated the grill (HOT!) and laid the steak on with a little cajun seasoning and malt vinegar (my new favorite vinegar for cooking). It took about 20 minutes rather than the usual 8-10 but the steak was perfect medium rare on the inside and nicely charred on the outside. Score one for Chef Mom.  I marinated the asparagus and onions in malt vinegar , olive oil, and a splash of lemon juice, then added them to the grill about halfway through cooking the steak. I also added a whole garlic to the grill as well. YUMMMM!!!  The entire meal cost me less than $20, that includes the 2 beers and 1 glass of hard cider (homemade). Can't get that at a Steakhouse.
Even better we didn't have to wait in line, we got patio seating, and didn't it was quiet.
We enjoyed the campfire and talked a bit about school and some goals I have. We also talked about some ideas for rearranging the house for learning zones.
The patio table and chairs weren't the best seating for a dinner but it worked.  I think I can set it up for the boys and use a picnic table for us next time. Since Spring has finally arrived I suspect there will be more dinners outside for a while.
Date Night #2~ I talked Mike into Happy Hour at McMenamins Hotel Oregon in downtown McMinnville. I had a gleaner's pick up a few blocks away and needed to return a Redbox movie anyway, so it made sense. We enjoy the pub food, especially the Happy Hour menu: Half Tavern Green Salad, Cajun Tots, and 1/3lb Burgers. I added a cup of Tomato Soup (it is crazy good soup). Since we were there in time for Happy Hour, Mike got his favorite beer and I got a Hard Cider. At the end of the evening we had spent $48.00 (more than double the night before), but it was worth it as I didn't want to do dishes and neither did Mike.

Saturday was Date Day~ I had a Bountiful Baskets pick up that ended up being pushed to the evening due to weather in the midwest, so we decided to head up to Silver Falls, our go to romantic spot. We ended up hiking abou 2 1/2 miles (with lots of hills), but the weather was beautiful and the falls were spectacular as usual.
We took a bench break at Winter Falls and snapped a picture of us together (a rarity). Winter Falls is beautiful, but the hike to it and back is crazy 11% + inclines.

peeking through the trees to Double Falls

South Falls is always wonderful, the trail down has issues so was blocked off, we could have taken the long way, but decided to just enjoy the view from the look out.

Date Night #4 was actually Date Afternoon on Sunday~ We stopped at KFC for a small bucket of chicken on our way home from church and then watched the Nascar race. The boys came home about 3 in the afternoon crazy excited to tell us about their adventures. I was happy to have my boys back and grateful for the break to spend some quality time with my husband and principal.