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Sunday, October 9, 2011

A Rare Occasion




When the kids were little, we would go out almost every weekend.  We'd go to the mall, to a restaurant, to a bookstore, something like that.  Just something as a family for a little time with all of us together.  The older they get, the harder that is.  Everyone going in different directions.  And we don't go out to eat very often anymore anyway, because of the expense and also the "unhealthiness"of it.  I can cook fresh, healthy meals at home for much cheaper than most restaurants.  And malls just tend to make us want to spend money we don't really have, for things we don't really need.  So our "family outings" have become fewer and farther between.


But today we decided to head to a mall we haven't been to in a while.  And since it was all 6 of us, we decided to make sort of a little day of it.  We kept it very low key.  Part of the fun is the drive there, singing and dancing in the van, everyone getting their groove on. 

When we got there, we let Evan play at the little play place (can you believe he's almost too tall for it?!  My baby?!).  Then we stopped in the little candy store and let each of the kids pick out their favorites (and me too....I love cinnamon bears!). 

Everyone got to have a little sample of their candy, just  a few pieces so as to not spoil their dinner.  We looked around a bit.  Taylor took Sky and Alexa to Hot Topic and John, Evan and I went to Hallmark.  They had some Halloween decorations that caught Evan's eye.  And once we got inside, we spent some time checking out all the Hallmark Christmas ornaments.

That was about it for the mall.  It was crowded and we were just window shopping anyway, so it was enough time spent there.  Then we headed to dinner.  We went to the Silver Diner.  What a fun place to eat.  I originally wanted to go for the nostalgia, but after checking out the new menu.....wow....the food was so good!  They have healthy menu options now too (always a plus).




The kids got a kick out of the cardboard cars that come with the kids meals and the jukebox at each table. 

It was a lot of fun.

 
Oh, but as a side note....to the people in the booth behind us.  It is not cool to choose "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor over and over and over again from your juke box for the rest of us to suffer through.  Really?!  There should be a limit on the number of times you can play a song.  At one point I was pretty sure the person choosing the song was NOT going to survive the meal, if  Taylor could figure out exactly who they were.  I am quite thankful the food was so good, because that song, repeatedly, was enough to make us lose our appetites.  And Taylor was about to go out of her mind.

But, we didn't let it ruin our time.  We had a blast, as a family out together. 

My kids are some really cool people.  And they are fun to hang out with.  Their dad isn't so bad either.

We should do this more often.

Hope your weekend is wonderful and that you are making the most of it, with those you love the most!
TTFN
~Tina

2 comments:

Grandma Jo said...

Sounds like all had a great family time! So glad you got to do it and take advantage of this great weather! The Silver Diner - is that where you took me once, who was that another place? We went there not too long ago. Maybe that was called something else. It had an old hot rod hanging from the roof. If that's not it, what was that one? Anyway, thanks for sharing your day and some great pics! LYAB !

Tina said...

We did take you to the Silver Diner a long time ago...before Evan and possibly Alexa were born. We remembered that as we were eating there this time. But this isn't the place we took you to recently, not the one with the car hanging from the ceiling. That was called the Juke Box Diner I think. Both are neat experiences but the Silver Diner just feels more authentic and has healthier food. Love ya!