Ahh, Valentine's Day. Our first commercialized, over-the-top, excuse to go out to an expensive dinner and get dressed up... Err, I digress. Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. We had been debating where we should go for dinner, of course I had a couple of options already but we all know Mahina hates surprises and even when you try she usually guesses what's going to happen. So instead, we tried to decide on where to go together. We had been drawing a blank on anything that seemed truly fitting for the occasion until we got a letter from the Ayres Hotel.
You might remember the Ayres Hotel is where we had our wedding reception. Some genius marketing person decided to send out invitations to everyone who celebrated a wedding at the Ayres and invite them to a special Valentine's Day dinner. Genius, I tell you. What better place, to quote the letter, "come enjoy Valentine's Day where it all began..." Enough said. We had our dinner reservation. February 14th, eight months and one day since we had gotten married, and we were back at the Ayres. Not surprisingly, there was a wedding reception just getting under way when we arrived. After we were seated we caught a peak of the Bride and Groom arriving at the Ayres and waiting in the lobby before making their grand entrance to get the party started. Ahh the memories. It was a quiet night at the Ayres otherwise, while eating at a hotel restaurant may not be the first option on many people's Valentine's Day itinerary, we were happy to see a handful of other couples back to celebrate their first V-Day at the Ayres.
Since this year's Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Sunday it left us with a whole day's worth of activities to celebrate with. Did I also mention that because it was on a Sunday, I also lucked out and didn't have to buy overpriced flowers to be sent to Mahina's work and compete with the other husbands? We all know that you women compete to see who gets the prettiest, biggest, and best flowers. We decided to split the day into Mahina's plans and Lucas' plans - to be fair, of course. Mahina organized a great picnic in the park with the dogs and also managed to squeeze in an activity while we were there. With a quick stop at Michaels, we had managed to find two of those "craft in a box" designs which included the paint and everything to make our very own war ships. After a nice and relaxing lunch at the park, it was arts and crafts time.
Naturally, arts and crafts quickly turned into a competition of who could build a better ship and who could paint it better. We were off, Mahina immediately referred to the directions while Lucas headed for the building blocks using the picture as his guide. In no time he had pulled away and was leading the building place. But shoddy materials slowed him down, allowing the ever persistent Mahina to catch up. It all came down to the paint job, and Lucas didn't stand a chance. Mahina easily pulled away on the painting, while keeping it neat and artistic, while Lucas struggled to throw paint on this boat and just get it covered. Hey, it's the thought that counts right?Back at home, we traded presents before getting ready for dinner. Mahina came away with new Stila make-up she had been eyeing at the store and Lucas finally got a real set of collar-stays, no longer having to fiddle with the cheap plastic ones that came with his shirts.
Once we were ready for dinner we headed over to the Ayres to cap off a great day. The food was great and we celebrated our first Valentine's Day married over steak, fish and champagne. Sadly, Valentine's day came to an end after dinner, but it was a great day filled with fun and comedy.
