We went up to my grandma’s after the game was over. My mom was prompting Brandon, asking him, “What do you say to Tai po?” Brandon said, “Gong Hay Fat Choy?” We told him he had to wait until next year. But maybe he could just say “hi” or “hello”. Funny guy. I wanted to get some steps in, so I told Peyton, who didn’t get a donut that morning, that she had to come exercise with me. Brandon got to stay home because he was tired from his game. My mom, Dave, Peyton and I walked down to the beach from my grandma’s house. I told Peyton we could stop by the donut store if she didn’t complain and walked. She walked happily downhill, and I told her to conserve her energy. She made it to the beach, and even sat for a few pictures. Then, we started the trek back uphill. She still didn’t complain, but she was definitely slower. We were looking for the donut place, but realized it was past my grandma’s house uphill, so we gave her a choice – continue walking, or stop at the Chinese place. She wanted a donut, which meant 6 more blocks, but then I realized it was closed. She was quiet, but she did finally agree to get a Chinese pastry instead. She chose the smallest, red bean, flaky pastry. We went back up to my grandma’s, and then she was able to eat it there. My grandma made us dinner, and both kids ate it all! I’ve never seen Peyton eat so fast! She had her thin noodles, winter melon, and broccoli. My aunt didn’t give her the gaelan, but when my mom had it, she ended up eating all of hers! She even ate the steamed egg/pork dish, though I wasn’t sure she would. Brandon ate everything but the lop cheung and char siu. He says he doesn’t like “red meat”. I ate the lop cheung, but told him he had to eat the char siu, since I wanted him to eat more protein. He seems shorter to me than his friends, so I want to try to tank him up! We left shortly after that, and since the kids had already showered after the game, we had them change and go to bed. Then, Dave and I went out! We were going to meet up with Linh and Josephine, but they were coming back from a baby shower, so we met Dave’s coworker Danielle and her husband Scott at a bar. Dave wanted to eat again, since he had only sampled at my grandma’s and because we were drinking. I had a hard apple cider, served in a mason jar, while Dave had a drink in a mortal and pestle. We were both happy with our selections, and then Dave followed up with a beer. Josephine texted me about 1030 pm that they were parking, so we headed over. This was the closest to “bar-hopping” we’ve done in awhile, though we didn’t end up at a bar, but a Chinese cafe. Dave ordered bitter melon, and since they didn’t have dessert, I just sipped tea. We caught up with Jos, and ended up not leaving until 1245 am. This was a stretch for us, especially Dave! We went home, and we went to our respective corners. I ended up with Peyton, and Dave went to the family room, since Brandon didn’t want him in his room since he snores. Peyton pulled a Helen Keller on me, and felt my face to figure out who I was. I told her it was me, then she snuggled up to me, and fell right back asleep. I felt like a mommy bear, cuddling with her baby. The kids woke up at 7 am, just in time to wish my dad off to work, and then Dave off on his flight. I got up, too, and got them ready for the day. It was a struggle, but I was looking forward to our brunch reservations. Dave and I had talked about going to this place in SC for brunch, and I made a joke that we should go without him. My mom was excited about it, and she called for reservations on Saturday night. We were the first seating, and we were lucky to have gotten a seat. Open table was not accepting brunch reservations until the next weekend. Our family knows the head chef, but we weren’t sure he was going to be there. So after hanging out at home this morning, we headed downtown to SC, and saw the line out the door waiting for the restaurant to open. Once the restaurant opened, we made our way through the line, and we got seated toward the back, in the “kids’ section”. I liked it because it was easy for us to get to the restroom. The kids got menus and then we figured out what to eat. I already knew what I was going to order, but I wanted to get something from the regular menu for the kids. I ended up ordering a scramble for the two of them to split, and then a waffle, to be brought out after they were done (so it remained crispy). It was a cookie dough waffle, and I was intrigued. My mom ordered the eggs benedict, three ways – steak, crab cake, and traditional. We needed Dave there to order a third entree to try, but we did still get a good sampling. We had a slow meal, with it lasting over an hour and a half! That’s a long time with the two kids, who did well, keeping themselves entertained. There was a mad libs at the back of the menu, that they both had fun filling in the blanks. After we were all done, and expecting the check, the waiter brought us over a “surprise” from the chef – ice cream sundaes for the kids and a bread pudding to share for us. It was huge! I even told the kids to share their ice cream with us to make it a la mode, since they were given double scoops, at least! They were also given chocolate syrup, peanut butter pieces, sprinkles, M&M’s, and whipped cream. Brandon declared, “This is the BEST day ever!” Both kids finished what they were given, and both independently informed me that they were full. We then took a long walk, from one end of downtown to the other. We stopped at a kids’ book store, and the kids took a long look in there, too. When we got home, Peyton and I took a nap, while Brandon played quietly in my mom’s room. We took off to get groceries at TJ’s, while my mom met my dad for a celebration birthday dinner for one of his clients’ parents. Here are our pictures from today:
I’d taken another one that I’d posted to FB, with my mom and the kids, but somehow that one disappeared. Oh well. I told the kids we were eating salad for dinner, and I wasn’t kidding! We all had a salad, and a little bit of fruit, and that was it. Bedtime at 730 pm, and not a word from them since. Phew!