It's a girl's night out

It is tradition ... The first weekend in August, Petunia and I go away for a night and stay in a hotel somewhere. I started doing this with her right before kindergarten and love it more and more each year. We escape around 3 on a Friday afternoon and head for the mall. Until this year, tax free weekend was the first weekend in August so we would set out to get her back to school shopping done without paying taxes! Well, that and a whole lot of playing.

This year we upgraded and stayed at the Embassy Suites. Petunia was THRILLED to get her own Build A Bear package ... bathrobe, shower cap, slippers, and supplies for her Build A Bear! I'm not quite sure if she loved the goodies or the $5 gift card that came with it. Of course she couldn't wait to get to the mall and spend it.

After several hours of shopping, she gets to choose dinner. What did she choose this year? Sonic of course! She finally started tuckering out about 8pm and asked to head to the hotel. She had never been to an Embassy Suites before. It was so much fun to watch her reaction. She felt like she had died and gone to "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" heaven! She couldn't believe there were two rooms and T-W-O televisions!

Once in the room, we quickly got into our jammies (me in my old ratty pair and her in her spiffy new Bobby Jack pair), snuggled up in the B-I-G bed and found a movie to watch on Pay Per View ... We watched "Are We Done Yet" and laughed and laughed. The only thing missing was the popcorn. Note to self ... take a bag of microwavable popcorn next year!

We slept in until about 8:30 and got ready for breakfast. I just love a breakfast buffet. Petunia was itching to get back to the mall so it was a fairly quick bite. While I was getting ready when we got back up to the room, Petunia took hold of the camera. See ... her favorite place in the world ... the mall!

Before heading back to the mall for another fun-filled day of shopping, I was able to sweet talk her into a trip through IKEA. I had never been before and was far more impressed with it than Petunia. Once we left the kids section, she was pretty much ready to go.

We sat outside for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Petunia complained just about the whole time about it being hot. Well, it was August ...

Another few hours here and there and we finally headed home around 6:00. She was so thrilled with all of her new clothes for school. Of course, she was in love with her new Webkinz we bought. (Yes, we bought one for Rowdy as well!).

All the new clothes, shoes, etc. are nice but they don't compare to the time we spend together on this night alone. We talk and laugh for hours. I cherish each and every moment we spend together. I know a period of time will come when she wants NOTHING to do with me. I will cherish my "coolness" for as long as I can ride that wave.

My favorite part of this year's get away was when she asked me Saturday afternoon how long we were going to keep going away for our girl's weekend getaways. I told her I hope we do it every year for the rest of my life. She thought that was awesome! Melt my heart and call me a sap!