My date with Dennis

As I'd been promising all week, Dennis and I had a special evening out tonight. We dropped Daddy off in Hoover so that he could go have his "guy night" (he and Jason went to a concert), and then we did whatever Dennis wanted to do. We dined at Chick-Fil-A, both of us enjoying kids' meals, before spending well over an hour exploring Toys 'R Us. He checked out everything, and it was like he was on sensory overload. His eyes whirled as he tried to look at every Lego set! He saw Rescue Heroes toys and Batman toys, checked out Power Wheels Jeeps and go carts, tried on a Darth Vader mask... He completely enjoyed his time there. Next we went to pick up an apple tree and fig tree from Home Depot at Gran's request. We bought a Pink Lady apple tree, not what Dennis wanted ("Mom. I hate pink!"). It is so big that it stretched from the back of the Trooper to touch the dashboard between the front seats. Dennis wanted to go to the bookstore next, and we snacked at the snack bar there and played in the kids' section. I read 12 or 13 superhero and Transformer and Lego books to him and watched him play. We were headed back to get closer to the Walmart where we would retrieve David when I noticed that the 'Hot Doughnuts Now' sign was lit at Krispy Kreme. I took Dennis inside to watch the doughnuts travel along the conveyor belt on their cooking journey (he loved this) and then let him choose one to buy and eat. He chose a chocolate glazed with sprinkles but decided to save it. He did love wearing the paper hat they gave him!

While we waited for Daddy, we chatted and laughed in the car. He asked me if I knew what a "henway" was. I told him "no, what's a henway?" and he replied "oh, about 2 or 3 pounds!". Oh--"henway" is "hen weigh". I totally fell for it, and he chuckled big belly laughs at his joke. He pronounced our date "a real beauty" and was delighted to have a special evening dedicated to himself. I really enjoyed his company! I always do, but he's such a little grown up when we go places, talking to people, asking questions to cashiers... Tonight he asked the bookstore cashier "why is your sink so crazy?" as he held up his shirt sleeve that had been well soaked by its unexpected wild spray. She assured him they would check into it and fix it, and he told me on our way out the door, "see--I always know how to get my questions answered!". He's right. He went up front to ask for the restroom key all by himself (I ran after him but couldn't keep up) when he decided he had to go. He told me he'd go get the key because he was faster! He was right!

We plan to have a repeat date night if he gets birthday money to spend. We are already looking forward to it!