Date Night- For Free.

Sometimes...you just need to get out of the house. You can't look at the sink one more time. You can't watch another episode of Arrested Development. Your dog is running figure-eights around the coffee table for no apparent reason. So you decide it's date night.

First stop? The dog park. There is a small enclosed space for little dogs that we take Ripley to, but we've decided she's a teensy bit racist. She doesn't play with other dogs unless they're terriers or a terrier mix. Fact. (Also, we learned that Ripley EATS PUZZLE PIECES.)

After dropping Rips back home, we cooked up a batch of crack chocolate popcorn. If you have ever been to Downtown Disney, you know why this is a necessity. That wily park and associated shops and stores pump yummy smelling aromas into the air...they make you crave candy corn balls and cinnamon buns and beignets by the dozen. We take our own candy to avoid being swindled. Most of the time it works.

Always always always our first stop is the Lego Store. Mr. E has a bit of a fascination with Legos and they've been really innovative recently- setting up stations to make your own figures, hosting vehicle-building-and-racing contests and kicking out movie-themed kits. We never fail to enter that store when it's insanely busy and the employees are always sooo nice. 

Our favorite pasttime is staking out the left most corner of the store where they display their MiniFigures- small Lego people that come sealed in a plastic bag. The only way to determine which figure you're buying (there are 15 different themed people to each series) is to use x-ray vision tactile perception. We sit and feel around the bags with our fingers, guessing at hats and hair and handheld props. Is that a wrench? Or a tomahawk? We scored a merman who sits proudly at my work desk as a reminder of my Triton spirit!

Downtown Disney isn't that large- and most of it is restaurants, which we avoid- but it's a nice stroll, especially since we've eliminated the stress of being at the park all day. We head through the Disney store for our fix of kiddie things, then wander back and people watch, hand in hand, enjoying the sights and sounds and fireworks. We usually find the time to stop by the confection shop because CARAMEL APPLES, that's why. And also, all things Monsters Inc. 

We tired the dog out, walked our little feetsies off, made friends and chowed on (free! homemade!) popcorn. Date night over and out.