Settlers as Settlers

Mark and I wanted to have some fun.

We used to go on all kinds of dates. Even here in small-town Iowa we found date-like activities to do. One of my favorites:

Mark planned a sunrise date at a park where we could watch the sun come over the horizon while eating homemade bagels and drinking coffee from a thermos. Fun? Romantic? Reminiscent of the 'honeymoon stage?' Yes to all of the above.

But we haven't done much like that recently. We've been too busy thinking about grown-up problems like infertility and our earwig infestation. If you've ever heard of earwigs, you will understand why they might take one's attention away from romance:

In any case, we decided that we needed something fun, date-like. So we planned our Settlers as Settlers night, in which we ate food that early European settlers of the United States might have eaten and played the game of Settlers:

We even dressed up:

 Please don't comment on how I look more like a gypsy or vagabond than I do a settler. I was working with what I had.

We ate homemade pork and beans (but went easy on the pork, as I don't care much for meat) and skillet bread, which tasted basically like biscuits. We also had coffee because we read in the book pictured above that western cowboys drank strong black coffee with just about every meal. We Americans have a rich heritage of healthy eating.

All in all, a fun night! I enjoyed just being able to cherish being a couple again. Sometimes in the midst of wanting a baby I forget that I have a lot to be thankful for (example: see the one wearing the blue bandana).