12 Months of Dates- Too Tired for a Date

The month of April flew by.  I was trying to figure out a day that Ben and I could squeeze in our date night and the only night that worked was the very last Saturday of the month.  It also happened to be the same day as my oldest son's T-ball Tournament.  This really should not have mattered but Ben was the coach, the boys had to play four games, and it was well over 100 degrees that day! We were all so exhausted after our day at the ball fields. We were outside from 8 am - 4 pm, and even thinking about doing some of our more adventurous dates were not going to happen. At one point I was thinking we should cancel because all I really wanted to do was lay on the couch an relax, but this was the very last weekend in April and I am determined to get in one date a month this year.

Grey had a great first t-ball tournament

The whole team

Coach Ben

So, we chose a low key date night. Ben used his "Your choice" card and we ended up checking out a new mall that opened near us.  We walked around to see what shops were there.

We ate a Wine Connection and had a wonderful dinner of ravioli and cannelloni . So good.

And a date night would not be complete without a trip to the grocery store?  I know, we are living it up!

Even though our night out wasn't super exciting, it was still nice to get out for a few kid free hours.  Our next date will be a little more exciting.  Choosing between a dinner cruise or a tour of the city.  What you like us to do?

12 Months of Dates- Jim Thompson House

I mentioned before that I gave Ben "12 Months of Dates" for Christmas.  The first two months were pretty low key and I didn't even take a picture of us out on our dates.  In January, we went out to dinner and got hour foot massages for my birthday.  In February, we used the dinner & a movie card to go out for Ben's birthday.  So, I was looking forward to our date in March to do a little more exploring of Bangkok  and crossing another spot off our "must-do" list in Bangkok.

We made our way to the Jim Thompson House in Downtown Bangkok.  You may have heard on the news that Thailand has been having protests since last October.  We really have not even headed down into the city since the beginning of the protests because we are never really sure where they have been located.  Well, I had not heard of anything happening downtown for a few weeks, so I thought it was safe to go down there.  We tried to get in a taxi and they kept saying "No, big mobs."  Really?!  The one day we want to go down into the city and the protests have started back up again.  We decided to chance it and go anyway.

We tried out a couple new modes of transportation...the Sky Train and the BTS (subway). (Why have we never used either of these before? So easy!)   And where does our stop end up?  Right in the path of the protest! On one hand, it was pretty amazing to see all of the people dressed in pink, sporting the Thai flag, and blowing their whistles.  On the other hand, I was panicked because, while most of the protests have been peaceful, there have been causalities and many have happened around the overpasses that I was currently standing on.  Thankfully, we realized we got off at the wrong stop, hopped back on the Skytrain, and ended up out of the path of the protest.

The Jim Thompson House has a shuttle waiting at the end of the main street to take you to the door, free of charge.  It only costs 100 Baht per person to get into the house.  A little background on Jim Thompson.  He was an American, who was sent to Bangkok during WWII and decided he wanted to stay there.  He started up a silk business in Thailand and built a beautiful Thai style house in the center of Bangkok.  In 1967, Jim Thompson disappeared on a trip to Malaysia and still to this day, no one knows what happened to him.

Silk Worms

                                                         

Cocoons and beautiful silk

 Boiling the cocoons and spinning the silk

This is one of the designs they would print on the silk

Once you arrive at the house, you are put into a group and taken on a tour of the house.  You are not allowed to take pictures in the house.  I wish I would have been able too, it was beautiful.  Covered in Thai tapestries, Buddhas, art work from around the world.  It was fun imagining what it would have been like to live in a house like that.  I know my boys would absolutely love it!  The grounds are beautifully landscaped with gardens and pots of flowers.

 Ben, walking through the garden

The traditional Thai Style house, built up on stilts 

We finished our outing by eating at the restuarant on the grounds and had a delicious lunch of Spring Rolls, Massaman Curry, and Larb Moo.  So good.  We also bought the boys really interesting Siamese Horoscope pictures at the gift shop.

 We only spent about an hour and a half at the Jim Thompson House, but both Ben and I really enjoyed ourselves.  It was nice to get out and have some adult time. Now, we are trying to figure out what our date will be in April!

12 Months of Dates

Ben and I never get gifts for each other for Christmas, but this past Christmas I got him something that we both were really needing.  I am sure many of you have experienced the same thing as you continue along with your marriage or relationships.  Children bless your life, jobs take over, life happens, and you spend less and less time focusing on each other.  It seemed as if we were only going out a few times a year.

In January, Ben and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary.  I wanted to focus this year on devoting more time to each other.  Our boys are getting older and are less needy.  I do not want to be that couple, years down the road when the boys leave the house, that look at each other and wonder how they have grown so far apart.  This year is being dedicated to putting my marriage first and rediscovering why Ben and I got married in the first place.

I was searching Pinterest for the perfect, inexpensive, preferably handmade gift that I could give to Ben for Christmas.    I kept seeing ideas on making coupons for 12 different dates to go on throughout the year.  I loved this idea and thought it would be a great way to help with my goal for 2014.  There were so many cute ways to present the 12 month coupons, but I loved how Kiwi Cottage set up hers.  I borrowed her layout and thought of places Ben and I have on our never ending list of places we want to see in Bangkok before we decide to move.

Here is the list I came up with :
January-Movies Completed in February.  We saw Saving Mr. Banks.  Great movie!
February-Chili Paste Tour- Walking tour of Bangkok
March-Night out at Asiatique- Fun outdoor market down by the river
April- Dinner & Massage- Completed in January for our Anniversary
May- Bangkok Dinner Cruise
June- Cooking Class- Cooking with Poo
July- Walking tour of Chinatown
August- Bike Tour
September- Restaurant downtown
October-Jim Thompson House  Completed in March
November- Your Choice -Completed in April/Dinner at Wine Connection
December- Christmas dinner at Chocolate Ville


As you can see, we are not going in order.  We have been changing our schedule around based on who we can find to watch the boys while we are out. It has been wonderful to get out for a few kid free hours every month.  I hope we can actually complete our list!

Do you and your significant other do anything to stay connected ?  I would love to hear all of your ideas!