A Mommy-Daughter(s) Valentine's Day Picnic

So as planned, I decided to start a new tradition with my girls and make a special Valentine's Day picnic for them.  It ended up being out on our back patio (which is screened) because it looked like it was going to rain.  It didn't rain, but none the less we had a nice breeze and it was better than being out in the sun.

My girls are at the age now that I can get more creative with the activities that we do and how we celebrate holidays.  This is so exciting for me because I love to plan parties.  However, they are not at the age that they actually care and it was very apparent this week. 

Let me elaborate and share some real life moments for you and try to paint a picture of the disaster that really happened.  I mean, don't get me wrong, we had some fun, memories were made but pictures can be deceiving. 

We all woke up early and started our day off pretty good.  Charlotte was up at 6:30 and Emma by 7.  I got them dressed in their adorable new, matching skirts and hair bows from Clothed On Grace and took a little trip down the road to visit Gramma and Gramps. 

The weather was amazing, so they got to run around and chase each other.  I thought, great, they can have there mid-morning snack, burn off some energy and then take a really good nap before the picnic!

I needed to stop at Aldi before we headed back home and that's pretty much when all you know what broke loose.  We came across these adorable heart shaped marshmallows and I threw them in the cart thinking they would be a nice treat for our little Mommy Daughter Valentine picnic.   Wrong.  As soon as Charlotte saw them, she wanted the bag opened.  When I wouldn't open the bag, she began to throw a huge tantrum.  I quickly remembered why I do my grocery shopping Sundays after church without the girls.  Nap time couldn't come soon enough!

Take a second and look at this face.  Does this look like the face of a sweet girl who would throw a fit in the middle of the grocery store?  No?  Well, you'd be wrong.  Deceiving, right?

 
We get home and what do you know, Charlotte refused to take a nap.  That's right y'all.  You can pretty much admit me at this point.  I let her cry for about an hour before finally getting her out of bed (I can't be the only mom who does this, right?).  Normally she doesn't fight me for this long, but if she was going to do it, today would the day.  Emma on the other hand, immediately took off her V-Day clothes and insisted on wearing her PJ Masks pajamas for lunch.  This was one of those "pick your battle" moments and well, she won.

Can you tell she needs a nap too?  I need a nap just looking back on this!  I was determined to set a picnic up for them, so I made lunch and started to get it ready.  I tried to keep it simple with heart-shaped pb and j and fruit, but as requested by my toddler, I made mac and cheeeese too!  We couldn't forget to add our candy from Albanese either, but that was more for me.

This doesn't look like much and it wasn't, but if you only knew what I had to do to get a couple of photos.  Sheesh! Emma finally gets me.  She knows that I love to take pictures of them and is as patient as an almost three year old can be in a situation involving food.  Charlotte has no clue.  On top of trying to keep our dog out of the patio and away from the food, Charlotte decides to grab the marshmallows.  She grabs one and starts to take a bite...no big deal, she can have one while I snap some pictures.  Wrong again.  She takes a bite, puts it down, grabs another one, takes a bite, puts it down and well, you know.  Vicious cycle I tell ya.  After she grabs and takes a bite out of every single marshmallow, I decide to put her in the other room with our dog and she screamed the entire time. It was a mess!  Are you as exhausted as I am reading this?  I don't blame you and I actually commend you if you made it this far.

I bring Charlotte back out on the patio with us and the first thing she does back is grab a handful of macaroni and puts it on her plate, then puts in on the table and then the bowl of candy.  There was no winning with her.  I quickly decided I didn't want my sheet ruined, so I took it off and on the outdoor blanket we go.  As if this lunch couldn't get any more ridiculous, our dog had been on the blanket and there was dog hair everywhere.  Gross.  Now I had dog hair, smashed macaroni and sticky hands! 

At this point, all I could do was laugh.  It was what is was and I was hanging out with my girls.  This will definitely be something to look back on and smile.  It was our first Mommy Daughter Valentine's Day picnic and it can only get better with each year!  This moment was special, slightly chaotic, but so special.

-GIVEAWAY- I've teamed up with Clothed on Grace on Instagram to give one lucky reader a handmade skirt and bow set!  For an extra entry, leave a comment! 

Did you know that Clothed On Grace donates 10% of their sales to the local Children's Hospital ever 6 months AND donates outfits to 5 boys and 5 girls for the first day of school each year?!  This is why I love shopping small!