A lot of you may know, but we don't celebrate Valentine's Day - at least not in the traditional sense. This is not because I am the Valentine's Day Scrooge or because I hate the holiday in general. Because I don't. As a kid, I loved Valentine's Day, and the parties at school, and the candy and decorations, and the overall festiveness.

Then I became a teenager and all my friends started getting depressed on Valentine's Day if they didn't have a "significant other" or if somebody in the school didn't send them a flower gram, or whatever. This was the start of the downfall for me, I think. As I continued to get older, I realised how truly commercialised the day really was. What I dislike the most is that retailers mark up their items (especially flowers) dramatically for the one day, simply because it's Valentine's Day. I think that's silly. Besides, I prefer to be surprised by these things than receive them simply because the holiday says I should.

So, Scott and I started our own tradition when we were dating - we would go to Chuck E Cheese. This would result in a good time had by all without any unnecessary pressures from the day. And we have continued the tradition, figuring it would be fun with our nephews and children. The way I see it, everybody wins in the scenario: we can take the nephews and our kiddos and go play and my sisters can have the evening to have a romantic date (or go grocery shopping, as my brother in law recently suggested). :) In a way, we are celebrating Valentine's Day, just not necessarily in the traditional sense.

Have no fear, though. I do not plan on corrupting Caleb. I am excited about helping him make Valentine's Day cards, make Valentine's treats, and buying those chalky little message hearts. But I hope that we continue our family fun day as well. Caleb got his first taste of it last night. Chuck E Cheese does not exist in England, so we decided to go bowling with our friends Stephanie and Kyle. Turns out this bowling alley includes pool tables, video games, basketball games, air hockey, etc... Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. It was definitely a late night for Caleb, but he was a good sport the whole time. And I got to practise bowling with a baby strapped to the front of me (which is doable but difficult). Luckily this was only for a couple of frames.

Here are pictures from our Valentine's Day extravaganza.

Labels: First Experiences, Holiday