Valentine's Day Celebration

Our family had our big Valentine's Day Celebration this weekend. The highlight for the kiddos was our annual trip to Build-a-Bear. Issa chose a penguin and Evan chose--you guessed it--a dog:
This little face sums up Evan's experience:

He loves Brownie, but he is not as in love with the whole experience aspect. I had just asked him if his dog needed an outfit. It's a dog; it does not need clothes.

Issa, however, loves the whole experience:

From the stuffing to the bathing to the dressing, she is all about it!

The finished products: Captain and Brownie:

Issa was very pleased with herself. She found pajamas for Captain that have a penguin on the front. Evan did decide Brownie needed a leash...and then he tried to "walk" him through the mall. I laughed until I cried over the whole event, and the kids played with their friends all weekend.

Saturday night, I headed out to dinner with my biggest and first Valentine. This will be our tenth married Valentine's Day, and we decided to go back to where we celebrated our first. The name has changed, but it's in the same complex as our first apartment. Nostalgia overwhealmeth. It was a wonderful evening--with wonderful food and wine.

And as everyone knows, no celebration is complete at or house without a cake. So, yesterday we made Valentine's cupcakes:

Dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache and mini-marshmallow hearts. Yum. It was a fabulous celebratory weekend...and I have a few tricks up my sleeve for tomorrow, too!