You've come a Long way, baby

Tonight I had a date with Larkin and Layne while Matt was on his way home from Nashville. We went to dinner at Torchy's Tacos and stopped at our favorite neighborhood frozen yogurt place afterward.

Everywhere we went, they were so cute that I was absolutely certain that people around us were texting their friends about the 2 charming little girls at the next table.

At Torchy's Larkin recited all of the numbers on the tables and counted how many Torchy's icons she saw on the walls. She and Layne ate their entire tacos, so I said that we would all get to do something special next.

After a couple of guesses ("Hamburger and french fries! A sweet potato!"), I gave Larkin a hint and she guessed frozen yogurt. Then she turned to Layne with a huge smile and said, "Layne! Our special surprise is frozen yogurt!"

At the yogurt place, they continued to be adorable. Layne wanted all these toppings on her yogurt: strawberries, blueberries, oranges, cookies, M&Ms, gummy worms, gummy bears and colored sprinkles. Larkin wanted all the same toppings as what Layne had, except she wanted chocolate sprinkles instead of colored sprinkles.

Still, they insisted on taking bites of my yogurt. I had to let them, because they looked like this:



Layne's face was covered in frozen yogurt stickiness. She and Larkin were talking and giggling about something, and then she turned and came at me with a big sticky smile, threw her arms around my neck and seemed like she was going to whisper something sweet in my ear. I listened close, and she whispered, "Poopyface."

On the way home, Larkin was chattering up a storm: "Mommy, I have a lot of things in my mind...like I'm pretending I'm in a forest, and I'm pretending I'm Ruby and Layne is Max, and I'm pretending I'm a fox with lots of teeth and germs in my mouth, and I'm pretending I'm a Christmas tree, and I'm pretending I'm a big toothbrush and Layne is a little toothbrush, and that's all."

I gave them quick baths and got them ready for bed. Layne wanted to me to sing Candle on the Water while I held and rocked her with Larkin's head in my lap. Layne sang along, and Larkin joined in for the final chorus.

Layne was easy to put to bed, laying right down with her head on the pillow and curling up with her gibbet (blanket). As I closed the door, I heard her singing the final refrain of Candle on the Water over and over, "I'll never let yooooou gooooo...I'll never let yooooou gooooo..." It was the sweetest sound I've ever heard.

My girls were perfect dates tonight. We had a wonderful time together.