The nest emptied for a night

We had no children at our house last night.

None.

For the first time. Ever.

AJ was invited to his friend Gino's cabin. We'd arranged for Sydney to have her friend Elizabeth sleep over. Then, at the last minute, Elizabeth's mom offered to host Sydney instead, freeing up Jeff and I for a date night.

But it was more than a date night, because we came home to an empty house.

Did I mention, this was the first time ever?

I was seven months pregnant with AJ when we moved into this house. Over the years, thanks to family members and babysitters, we've had nights to ourselves. But never at our house. This was the first time in eight and a half years

As far as dates go, we could have made better choices. After selecting World War Z, Jeff is once again banned from choosing the movies we will see. "It's got Brad Pitt," he told me. "Action Thriller" is how one review described it.

No. No. No.

It's a horror movie. About a zombie apocalypse.

I hate horror movies. I spent as much time staring at Jeff's shoulder as I did watching the movie.

Jeff, by the way, thought the movie was soooo unrealistic. Not the part about zombies attacking the world, but when Brad Pitt set off to save the world, he was flying in a plane that took off from an aircraft carrier, and there's just no way a plane that big could take off from an aircraft carrier.

This was just not a good movie for setting a romantic tone for the evening.

And so after that, because we didn't need to rush home, we headed to the casino to play some blackjack.

We are now a little bit poorer than when we started out.

But we got to spend the night together without dealing with bedtime stall tactics. And we got to stay up as late as wanted to without worrying that a child would wake up before we were ready. Never mind that my body decided to wake up at 5:30 this morning. I finished reading a book and went back to sleep.

Because I could.

The kids are now home. It was good to be able to hug them. Especially after seeing the world almost overtaken by zombies last night.

I missed them. And they both said they missed me. But the time alone with Jeff sure was nice while it lasted. And hopefully we won't have to wait another eight years to do it again. Because if last night was the best we could do for a date, we clearly need more practice.