Back to the Future

Remember the '80's? Back when Aerosmith was making awesome music, New York City was full of crime and people were wearing ridiculous clothes. Wait... that might have been the '70's. Or the '90's for that matter. Well, let's go with Brat Pack films, Bananarama and Mrs. Pacman. Yeah, that's more like it. Anyway, the '80's were cool, and so Rachel and I decided to ditch the kids and go to a 1980's theme party. That's right.... parental responsibilities out the window, we hired our first official babysitter!

In full disclosure, we've actually had our parents and various relatives watch the kids a few times before, but this was the first time we trusted strangers with Micah and Mal, and it felt momentous. The babysitter for our seven month old duo was a 12 year old wunderkind named Virginia, accompanied by her mother Katherine (and a stuffed pig). Rachel and I know Katherine and Virginia from church. In fact, Rachel used to teach with Katherine and we have watched Virginia grow up since she was a first-grader, so we completely trusted the team (except for the stuffed pig, who we patted down at the door).

Rachel and I spent our night without the kids time-travelling to the days of MTV, Wheel of Fortune and the Karate Kid. OK, that could also be now... How about the days of Huey Lewis and Andy Kaufman? Anyway, our friends Rob and Jaime rented out a section of a local watering hole to throw the retro-shindig in celebration of Jaime's birthday. For our '80's costumes, Rachel and I improvised with items around the house. I went as a 1980's cowboy, complete with a pearl button shirt, sweet belt buckle and skinny tie. Rachel worked the side pony tail and neon bracelets to perfection. I'm still not sure why the neon bracelets were in her closet, but she looked great nonetheless.

In the 80's there was a movie called "Adventures in Babysitting," and while the twins first night with a 'sitter wasn't quite as exciting as in the movie, it wasn't without adventure. While Rachel and I were out walking like Egyptians, Micah and Mal both woke up for the babysitters and needed to be rocked back to sleep. Also, Rachel and I stayed out until ten pm, which felt like about 4 am in 1980's time. As soon as we got home, we thanked Virginia and Katherine (never said thanks to the pig) and hit the sack; Rachel and I were whooped. I guess time travelling is tougher than it looks, just ask Marty McFly. Finally, an 80's reference that works!