Valentine's Day

I've celebrated (or not celebrated) Valentine's Day in tons of different ways over the years. In fact, I don't think I've ever done the same thing on February 14 in all my 42 years. Some years have been great; others, less so.

One of the most memorable Valentine's Day celebrations I've had was when we joined my parents and my sister's family for a cruise to Hawaii over Valentine's Day in 2009. Here we are on 2/14/09 with our entry for the boat-building contest using items scavenged aboard ship. We designed the S.S. Tie Canic, so named because the base of it was empty cans tied together. My contributions included writing the name on the sail, stringing the beads, and cutting faces out of brochures we got from the Future Cruises office to make the portholes. It was a really, really fun day.

Of course, most of my Valentine's Day celebrations haven't been nearly as grand as a Hawaii cruise, but that doesn't make them less fun. This year was awesome. 

We started the day at a roller rink for their Little People session, which is an hour-long lesson for kids 10 and under, then a 2-hour skating session for kids 10 and under and their parents. Between the dim lighting, movement, and disco balls, the pictures we took of each other didn't turn out very well - grainy, blurry, and otherwise lousy. Too bad since we were all smiles! But I did get a photo of our skates that I like. 

We spent the afternoon making fresh pasta together. It was such a fun way to spend time as a family.

Because it was Valentine's Day, we used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to make our ravioli. It was no more difficult than any other shape would have been and it added such a festive touch to dinner.

We had chocolate mousse for dessert, also heart-shaped. Next time I make mousse, I'm going line the molds with plastic wrap so that I can remove the hearts intact.

Roller skating and cooking together may not be the stereotypical way to spend Valentine's Day, but it was fantastic. I highly recommend it.