Jonathan and I take dates with our children. We take one child on a date every month switching off. We do this to have special alone time with them and eventually we hope they learn how to treat others, how to be treated, manners, etc. Last week I brought Joel on our first date.

I gave Joel 2 choices of where we could go- The Works or Moose Mountain. It was a hard decision, but since Lydia and Jonathan’s last date was at Moose Mountain it was what was fresh on his mind. So Jonathan made sure he was properly attired, I got ready, and we were off to the Mall of America. After riding a couple escalators we had made our way to Moose Mountain. It was a cheap date, since 5 and under are free. (BONUS!) We picked out our colored golf balls and went to the first hole. Luckily it wasn’t too busy.

I quickly figured out Joel wasn’t worried about winning. He really just liked seeing the golf ball go through different tubes and where it would end up. I was totally okay with that, not being a competitive person myself. He ended up being the one to get a hole in one.

He really enjoyed the outhouse hole because if you hit the ball to a certain spot it made a flushing noise.

I also kept teasing him about that dynamite. He needed to be careful not to hit it or it might blow. He thought I was pretty silly.

After the 18th hole we headed down to Starbucks for some coffee and hot chocolate. He loves hot chocolate and proceeded to drink it exceedingly fast. He followed it up by a big belch, which was then followed by a chastisement from me-“Joel we are on a date, and when you’re on a date you need to especially remember your manners.” (Don’t worry girls, I have a few more dates left to teach him.)

We had a few minutes to spare so we headed over to the Lego store, which was very busy. He tried building for a couple minutes, but I think he was overwhelmed or unsure of what to build with these random pieces. So we found a computer open and found some games for him to play.

We both had a fun time and can’t wait until our next date!