First we headed over to Cookie Cutters, a hair salon near us that caters only to kids. Usually, my mom's beautician cuts Katie's hair. But she lives two hours away, and since we have school pictures coming up this week and weren't able to make the trip to KY for a haircut, we decided to try out Cookie Cutters. They did a good job! We were in and out in about 15 minutes. They have a TV and DVD player at each station, so we brought one of Katie's DVDs with us and popped it in--and she did great! The haircut probably isn't as precise as when Penny cuts it, but it's definitely better than the "sheepdog" look for Katie's picture! :-)
Afterwards, we swung through the drive-thru at McDonald's and picked up Katie's favorite meal--chicken strips and french fries. Then we went next door to Qdoba for one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite meals--nachos and quesadillas! This was the first time we'd been out to eat together as a family for ages! Katie used to love to go to restaurants. From the time she was about 6 months old until she was about 4, we'd go out to eat with her all the time. It was always a fun way to get out of the house for awhile and do something "normal" in between all the doctor appointments and therapies. But then Katie hit that age where her patience level and desire to be on the move made it impossible to enjoy a meal out with her, so our restaurant days ended (except for take-out!). But now that Katie has gotten a little older and needs activities to keep her busy on the weekends, we thought we'd start trying to occasionally eat out again. Our first attempt went great! We took Katie's DVD player in with us to keep her occupied, and she did fine. Arlin and I didn't even have to gobble our food down like we were on a time clock! It felt so good just to do something that most other families would see as so "typical." Looks like we'll be hitting some more of our local restaurants in the coming weekends!
The Three Necessities of a Fun Meal Out
1. DVD Player
(Note how Katie watches it upside down. Not sure what that is all about!)
2. A Big Plate of McDonald's French Fries
3. Sharing a Booth with Mommy!
8 comments:
Oh how neat to be able to get out and go do a few things! Looks like ya'll had a nice time at the restaurant! Have a great week.
Kim
p.s. Thanks for all the advice you left for me on Christopher's page lately. It has really meant alot.
What a great, typical day you guys had! I'm so happy for you. You'll need to let us know what places aren't busy at what times and maybe we can try with Ben.
Some of my very favorite moments are ones like these, Leslie. It could be grocery shopping as a family or getting coffee on a Saturday morning...perfectly serendipitous and content moments. So happy to catch a glimpse of some of yours...
Oh, Leslie... I swear our lives have such amazing parallels!
We were on a roll with eating out for a while, but lately, our "out" meal (if Gracie's with us) often consists of a "car picnic!" if there isn't anywhere to actually sit down outside.
Will you even believe this...? Gracie does the same exact thing with her portable DVD player!!!
Finally, it makes me so happy to know that you guys were able to have a nice weekend outing and that you and Arlin were able to actually eat together rather than "scarf" together! :-)
It's the little things that bring us such pleasure... they are the things that so many others can't possibly appreciate in the way that we do! :-)
Oh, Leslie...
I too SO wish we lived near each other. Can you even imagine the fun the girls could have (and what shenanigans they'd get into>!) with eachother?!
Not to mention what kind of fun we'd be able to have together...!!!
Love this moment...thanks for sharing!
Interesting about the DVD upside down with Katie and Gracie...could it possibly have anything to colobomas, etc.? It'd be interesting to post on the listserv and see who else does this too. Oh our kiddos sure have their funny lil' quirks! :)
This message if for the Claytons...I would love to come and visit Christopher's site again but the last few times it has asked for passwords, etc. I totally understand if you are keeping it private. But if you don't mind, I would love to see what your lil' man has been up to these days. Hoping all is going well.
Amy and Max
I am so glad you were able to have an afternoon out be such a success! It is such a small thing that so many families take for granted. I hope I have that to look forward to!
Now that Claire is here it is absolutely impossible. I can't tell you how many times Philip and I have planned to go out only to find that both kids are screaming and crabby right as it is time to leave. We end up eating PBJs for dinner. A few days ago Philip got home from work and surprisingly both kids were in a good mood so we packed up and went out even though I had started dinner! We told the waitress to rush the order and then we ended up eating really fast to be able to help Jack eat and feed Claire. It was more work than fun and probably not worth it.
It is so funny about Katie watching her DVD player upside down! Jack does the exact same thing! He'll sit with his legs apart, the DVD player upside down on the floor, and then he bends down to get closer to it. Our kids are so funny!
I'm so glad everything is going so well for you right now!
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