My wife and I had a couple of hours on our own tonight. We left the boys at home playing video games, then dropped off our daughter at a Girls Scout event at a local roller skating rink. Then the two of us had a rare night out, eating dinner on our own.

We try to make  time for “date night” outings, but it’s too easy to get caught up in the flow of everyday family life and forget to take time for each other. So tonight we did that, if only for two hours.

Those two hours had been quite eventful for our daughter, it turns out. She had gone from tentative walking-on-wheels around the rink to a rather confident and effective glide. We were both impressed–and happy we had skipped dessert and come back early enough to see her in action.

We watched her make her way around a few laps, all smiles and surrounded by friends, and enjoyed her comfort and ease.

What a perfect way to end the evening.