Happy Valentine's

Brad and I celebrated Valentine's Day a day early this year. 

We usually don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day.  In the 5 years that we've been together, we've only gone out to dinner once. Normally we just make a nice dinner at home and enjoy a quiet evening, just the two of us.

This year, we decided to make a bigger deal out of it.  Since it's the last year with just the two of us, and the last year that we won't have to pay someone so that we can leave the house without the kid.

Last night, Brad surprised me with a very fancy dinner at a local restaurant called The Cliff House. The restaurant has been there for decades, and we've passed it on several motorcycle trips out to Dash Point State Park.  But it's a bit outside of town, and I always forget it's over there. And as the name suggests, the restaurant is perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking Commencement Bay.

This was our view during dinner. You can see all of Tacoma, from the ports to downtown to the town of Ruston.

It was a lot of fun. Normally my husband is a super quick eater, but in the course of the last week we've figured out two different ways to make him slow down and enjoy a meal.

1) beverages. If he's got a drink he enjoys, he'll take longer to eat 'cause he's got to set his fork down to pick up his glass.

and...

2) make his meal a challenge.  Last night he got a seafood stew, which came fully equipped with its own bowl of tools. It was full of giant dungeness crab legs, muscles and clams.  All of which use a different instrument to eat.  Surprisingly, I finished my meal before he did.

It was the perfect "last" Valentine's Day date.