Last Friday, Devin and I borrowed his parents' kayak and headed out on a date. Devin looked up a park near us that had a river, and I thought that that was our plan. But when we dropped off our kids with my sister-in-law and her husband to babysit, they told us that you couldn't actually kayak there, and that we'd be better of at Peace Valley.
That simple change in plan felt like a big deal to me--suddenly I was like, should we even go? Peace Valley is a little further, which means more wasted time driving, and we don't even know if the borrowed kayak has a permit and what if a park ranger doesn't let us in......We went to the trouble of scheduling babysitters, and it felt like high stakes: the one evening a week we spend just us (though we've done "dates" with a toddler in tow) might go totally awry.
And as we kept driving, there was a BIG black cloud we were headed straight for. So now, on top of the changes to our plan, I started expecting a huge thunderstorm to kill our plans completely.
It wasn't a romantic drive to the park, to say the least.
But what do you know? We got there with plenty of time to kayak, the borrowed boat did have a permit, there wasn't even a park ranger checking permits, and the big black cloud only rained a few refreshing drops. All my grownup tantrum-throwing and whining and general negativity was for no reason.
We paddled around the lake as the sun started to set, and getting splashed as we paddled was so refreshing! I apologized to Devin for being such a downer, and he was quick to forgive. How could you not laugh and have fun when you're splashing each other with your uncoordinated paddling? We would paddle around, and then just float along, and then paddle some more, laughing and talking the whole time.
What I realized that night is that I need to loosen my Type-A grip on plans. Even if the plans totally fail (which thankfully ours didn't!), it's about the company you're with. And who knows, your potentially failed kayaking date could turn into a beautiful, sunshining, laugh-filled time on a lake.
What adventures have you been on recently? Are you an uptight planner like me?!
Read more about our married adventures here: what married life is like before & after having kids, and our 6th anniversary
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