At Home Date-night and Day Time Date Ideas?

Museums, flea markets, Scrabble, fishing, canoeing, cook or bake together, have a picnic, video games, build something together, read, try The Book of Questions, back rubs, make dinner or lunch and get all decked out before you eat, take a walk or a hike, frisbee, home improvement projects, stargazing, batting park, tennis, dance, strip poker, try a few beer brands or wines you have never tried before.

First, Jo-- I am jealous of your bats. We rarely get bat sightings here...

Okay, now that's off my mind:

For daytime dates, we often take the cribbage board with us and go off to the pub or someplace we can just relax and talk. (You don't have to consume alcohol, either, at most pubs.) Games are great for reconnecting.

Another favorite is a walk or hike at a nearby park. If you like art, find out where some local galleries are and go enjoy that with a quick bite somewhere.

My favorite at home date night is what we do now: make up a couple of martinis, sometimes have something splendid like a chocolate croissant and watch a favorite show together. Tomorrow our son has camp and Husband has the day off, so we're going to use a gift certificate to go out for a very nice lunch.

We are pretty happy just sitting on the patio and watching the bats eat the mosquitoes. :)

Thing is with games and stuff is it isn't fun after a while. Dates are about the experience together, not doing stuff together. So spend time together and see what happens, ya know?

Well, we spend time together pretty much every night after the kids go to bed. We usually have a glass of wine and watch a few of our favorite shows on the DVR, and on the weekends we rent a movie or two. If you are looking for something to "do" I suppose you could make a late night dinner together, if that's something you both enjoy? Try a fun romantic recipe, not kid food!
As far as day time dates one of our favorite things is taking our dog out for a hike at the local regional park (miles of trails, gorgeous views.) Some other things we like to do: take bike rides, walk around downtown, shop at the farmer's market, browse bookstores, go to Costco (it's a lot more fun without kids, lol!) and go out for a drink, or a coffee or an ice cream, depending on the time of day and what we are in the mood for. Just packing a nice picnic and going to a beautiful place is simple, relaxing and romantic too :)

I f we don'thave much time we just ask my brother to keep an eye one the kids and go to starbucks or the grocery store for an hour or 2! I still will dress up a little and put makeup on even though it's not a "real" date. We also used to try doing exercise and dance dvds together-and then shower together afterwards wink wink! You can go for bike rides too-just pack a small snack or lunch to share, try cooking something new together-the other poster was right when she said it is about the experience-doesn't matter where you go-just who you are with. My bhusband and I always feel more bonded when we try something new together!

my husband and I recently went played miniature golf together and it was a lot of fun. i was ho hum about it going into it but once we got into it, it totally rejuvenated me as it felt like a teenager date. lol. for home we do movies or board games. you can also just having a nice quiet dinner/dessert/wine thing afer the kids have gone to bed.

Try new games (Say Anything, What's Yours Like, Uno", indoor picnic, cook some new dish together and just talk, foot or hand massages, etc. Think outside your norm. Hubby and I like to read to each other.

-dominoes
-card games
-pictionary
-day time date: picnic at the park or lunch out
-walk through a cute nearby town
-make some new, exotic dish for dinner (make sure it's w/in the realm
of something you will both eat & like
-watch the comedy channel (laughter is the best medicine)
-get some new appetizers you've never had before from frozen section of
your local grocery store & try them all out like a tasting

Thank your husband for his service and sacrifices to our country!! I know it wasn't easy to have him deployed.

Since you are looking for things to do AT HOME instead of out...what we do for date nights...

* spread a blanket on the living room floor - play Scrabble
* get some cheese and crackers - wine for him and tea for me and talk about things (not money or house stuff - but just STUFF)
* we both like sports - so there are times when we will sit (I lay with my legs in his lap) and watch a game and talk about the plays, calls, etc.
* on cooler nights but not COLD nights - go to the back deck and sit out there holding hands.
* we also invited friends over to play cards - or we play cards ourselves. Dominoes are fun too!! Yes! Even for adults!!!

You'll be surprised at what you come up with!! HAVE FUN!! ENJOY!!

I was so wrapped up in my kids that when we'd have a datenight (once in a blue moon) I couldn't think of a thing to do! So I started my 'Date Bible'.

In this binder I sectioned it out by local cities, and in each city I put all the local attractions and then a list of the restaurants and parks (and beaches). I happened to live in CA where there was alot of things to do, so I also kept on hand a tour guide, and a book called : "The Best Places to Kiss in Northern California".
Here are some ideas: Bowling(place kissing bets on who will win) , test driving a car at a local lot, rent a boat on the lake(take a picnic), walk across a bridge, visit local rose gardens, farners market, cathederals, museums, take cooking school classes, (or just cook something fun together...like try your hand at tossing pizza-there are tutorials an utube,..meanwhile play the Italian opera music CD "AMORE" to get in the mood), lookup all the local festivals online and try to plan a date around one,if there are local farms, go there and pick fruit, stroll around a garden nursury, visit the library, go get an ice cream and visit shops downtown,some restaurants have sunday morning brunch, go fishing and tell him all the things you adore about him , some cities have walking tours, go on a train, in spring, visit areas with wildflowers-wear a beautiful white dress and have him take photos of you, bike ride to your nearest park (take a bottle of cold sparkling cider, wrap some slices of cheese and pack it into the middle of 2 paper cups, roll this up in a small throw and bungee it to the bike - to enjoy when you arrive), mini golf, visit the bookstore and have coffee in the cafe there, grab a magazine you can look through together that you are both interested in. If you have a natural area close, take a field guide with you, some binoculars, and enjoy. Sometimes at night, after the kids were bedded down, my husband and I would go out in the backyard and skywatch (you can find the costellation maps online), talk, and enjoy a virgin drink,(take the baby monitor with you)....
You can find events around your area by visiting your local chamber of commerce and doing 'community event' searches for your town on google.
Doing something different can spark excitement. Having fun together can keep your relationship exciting for him. We have to remember that we women have a strong mother instinct and tend to lavish all our attention on our kids, leaving nothing left for the husband. Good for you for keeping date nights alive.

We like to go to the bookstore, get a cappucino and browse. We find cushy chairs in the corner and sit next to each other, flipping through books and chatting about what we see. Someday vacation spots or whatever.

We really like outdoorsy stuff. We are looking for some bikes now that the kids are taking the training wheels off. For now, we walk and they ride the trails and around the parks in our neighborhood.

For nightime...bowchickwowow!
I put on a teddy covered with a silky robe, dim the lights, light candles, a bottle of $5 champagne. I get out the playing cards, dominoes, dice. We rent a redbox movie. I might put lotion on his back while he tells me about his day or he puts lotion on my feet while we watch the movie. Play a couple hands of spades, laugh a little, then one last check on the kids and the robe comes off!

First, thank you and your husband for your sacrifices to our country!

Board games are always good - scrabble or whatever. My SO is a talker so we can spend the evening playing music and talking by the fire. We sometimes get into mini-series or shows (right now we're watching Game of Thrones - we're dorks!). For lower cost dates, we like to go bowling, music in the park, picnic, bike ride... if you go out in the evening there are comedy shows and salsa clubs.

How wonderful you are committed to date night - enjoy!