Couple things to do?

[cjcouple]

Looking for christmas ideas of things to do?

DH & I have been together 22 years. We had 5 years before kids and I'm trying to remember what sort of things we did in the evenings together? I'm drawing a complete blank. lol

We are finding we have quite a bit more time together now the boys are both in high school.

They both just left for practice so we have a good 3 hours alone tonight. haha.

Other than sex and watching TV, what kind of stuff do you do? :-)

[meowmaps]

You could take a drive together to look at lights and chat?

I find we connect best when we’re out of the house. Our house starts to feel like a prison because there’s always something that needs to be cleaned, put away, etc. But our kids are 5 and 2 so definitely in a different phase of life. 😂

[hermione]

Pre-kid we saw at least 30 movies a year (in an actual theater, lol)

Things we have scheduled this holiday season (some with the kid but we’d do them without her too)

A play

Zoo lights

A wine tasting party

Game night with friends

Bar trivia.

[waverly]

We went to dinner, movies, bookstores, walks, parks, tennis and rollerblading before kids. Half of those are weather dependent.

[fn2187]

Dec 4, 2023 18:21:33 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Looking for christmas ideas of things to do?

DH & I have been together 22 years. We had 5 years before kids and I'm trying to remember what sort of things we did in the evenings together? I'm drawing a complete blank. lol

We are finding we have quite a bit more time together now the boys are both in high school.

They both just left for practice so we have a good 3 hours alone tonight. haha.

Other than sex and watching TV, what kind of stuff do you do? :-)

Ice skating
Bowling
Movie theatre
Botanical gardens (they often have night light shows in winter)
Paint & sip (I think that’s what they call it?)
Cooking class
Pottery painting place
Escape room

I often look on tik tok for local ideas and there’s been some great ones! Even exploring very different types of restaurants.

[VillainV]

Not Christmassy, necessarily, but H and I did Axe Throwing as a day date a few months ago and it was really fun.

[wanderingback]

If you’re talking about "normal" every day evening things, some things we do:

Make cocktails together
Pick out a new bottle of wine and have a tasting with cheese board
Card games
Puzzle
Go for a walk
Happy hour
Dinner at a new restaurant
Movie and popcorn
Listen to a podcast or audio book together
Work out together (apple fitness)

[hermione]

Also, check Groupon. They have deals on things we wouldn’t normally think of.

[meanie]

We like to play board games, we got really into it for a while pre=kids and have a good collection. If you visit a hobby shop type place they should be able to suggest some good ones.

[rosiebear]

These are great ideas!

If you’re near a college, many of their offerings are open to the public. Our local uni had an awesome film society and a very eclectic speaker series, for example.

H and I have recreated GBBO bakes or watched & copied a YouTube chef (often Baking with Babish or Preppy Kitchen).

[sadie]

Our library has lots of free concerts. Our park district does all kinds of classes.

We like coffee/chocolate pairing as a tasting activity.

Pickleball. We used to go to the gym together.

Board games. Lorcana.

Take the dogs to a forest preserve.

Plan dream vacations.

Go to new coffee shops.

We've been trying to find volunteer activities to do. There's a local place we love that collects/distributes used kids' books to kids in need.

Occasionally, we perler bead. Without the kids, lol.

[isabel]

We used to enjoy cooking together. That's hard for us to do because generally if we want time alone we have to leave the kids at the house with a sitter. But it's an idea if you find yourself home a fair bit without kids.

I want to go axe throwing. We were going to go the other night, but I was tired and flaked. We will do that soon though.

I got DH tickets to see a comedian for Christmas and also a date night class at a stained glass studio. For that one, we're going to do the class, then to dinner at a great restaurant, and will stay overnight in a hotel. It's about an hour or so from our home, so we're going to make a weekend of it.

There's a place near us where we can do duckpin bowling. I think that's pretty fun. It's sort of lower key/easier than regular bowling and it makes having a conversation easier.

We go grab coffee or a drink when the kids are still in aftercare sometimes.

And we really like to play Ticket to Ride together, so maybe a new board game at home or something like that.

[cjcouple]

thanks all...great ideas.

[cjcouple]

Dec 4, 2023 19:08:08 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

If you’re talking about "normal" every day evening things, some things we do:

Make cocktails together
Pick out a new bottle of wine and have a tasting with cheese board
Card games
Puzzle
Go for a walk
Happy hour
Dinner at a new restaurant
Movie and popcorn
Listen to a podcast or audio book together
Work out together (apple fitness)

yeah, I was thinking more impromptu stuff like this when we find we have a chunk of time BUT I also wanted some things we could take off and do.

[7costanza]

We like to do crafts next to each other. I have different sewing/painting projects and he likes to paint mini figures. Sometimes we’ll watch something we don’t have to pay close attention to and chat about it while listening. Dateline is good for this since the audio is more important than video.

We also have a hot tub and like to hang out in there (naked, but doesn’t always lead to sex, its sometimes just fun and intimate.)

[sadlebred]

Museums See if any offer specials like a cocktail hour or special evening exhibits. Check with any universities nearby, too.
Plays
Cooking class
Concerts

Classical concerts/jazz

Do you have any local professional sports teams or college teams? Go to a game.

[fernweh]

We like to do classes. We have done a knife making class and a glass blowing class.

I’m thinking our next one will be archery or H mentioned wanting to do a pottery class.

ETA: we have been holding off on archery and pottery because they aren’t a one time thing. They are a 6 week course and I don’t know if I want to commit to 6 weeks right now.

[livinitup]

There are a few recipes that H and I only plan/cook when it’s just the two of us - because it’s best for two people because of cost or effort or not DD’s favorite. Same for special take out places.

Pre-kids we had a lot of energy for home renovations. While I don’t recommend this (haha), we recently tackled a big project over 2-3 months that was very satisfying when finished. I totally forgot we used to do that sort of stuff before kids.

[doctoranda]

Christmassy things:
Christkindl market
Craft holiday market
Candle night walk
watching holiday movies
Cheese fondue

General
Cooking class together
Oyster shuck class w/ champagne
Cook elaborate meals together
Couple's massages
Hot springs
Games w/ some good wine and a cheese board
Puzzle
Bond movie marathon w/ martinis
Walk or hike together
Beer or wine tasting
Dim sum or brunch
PLay pool

[lostrn]

On a normal evening it's mostly TV watching and sex stuff lol. But lately we've been playing on our Switch together (Mario Kart, Diablo 3, Smash Bros), periodically DH gets into doing puzzles so I will help him with that, we've been known to break out Battleship as well lol. We do have a hot tub but we've been lazy about getting in there the past few weeks. But that's a nice 30 minutes or so of chit chat and relaxation. Last night we actually just laid in bed and both read.

If we want to do something out of the house we usually go to the movies (we have Regal Crown club memberships) or go see local community theater.

[underwaterrhymes]

I’m saving this for five or six years from now lol.

[stemmie]

Some things we did/do as a couple in the evenings at home-

played cards-- usually Gin Rummy

had a bottle of wine and cheese plate as dinner

saw movies in actual theaters

did themed beer tastings-- like splitting 6 different from one region, style or brewery

we also walk in our local park or neighborhood

some nights we each sit in the living room and read

[shauni27]

man we used to go to the movies ALLLLL the time. up until I was pregnant we would go like once a week. I loved it and I miss it very much.

We would play games like battleship, jenga, rummy, phase 10, dominoes, uno and guess who. We still do this occasionally.

Just go out to eat. Pick a restaurant and go enjoy yourselves.

Pub trivia.

we wish we had bowling nearby because we would do that, or mini golf in warmer weather.

[waverly]

I missed the Christmas part in case you were wondering about some of the warm weather suggestions lol.