Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

5:00pm -- We arrive at a Cloth Napkin Restaurant for Father's Day Dinner.

5:05pm -- Tai is banging his butter knife on the glass-top table.
Suddenly his appetizer plate is on his head. Then his napkin is on his head.


5:09pm -- Tai has a time-out in the bar-height chair at the foot of the stairs.

5:11pm -- Quynh whines and begs to have a turn in the "tall chair."

5:15pm -- Shortly after we order our drinks, Tai bursts into song.  "Beer and wine!  Beer and wine!  That's what Daddy likes best!"

5:35pm -- Tai claims "tummy-ache" and needs to lay down on the booth next to me, very nearly kicking some other patrons along the way.  However, a brief reminder of the possibility of dessert caused the tummy ache to fade and more meatballs to be eaten.

5:45pm -- While Tai was too shy to ask the waiter if they had juice, resulting in his having to drink water, Quynh does not have the same inhibitions.  Toward the end of the meal she pretty much flagged our server down and asked loudly, "Do you have chocolate?"

5:47pm -- A flourless chocolate torte with chocolate ganache and whipped cream was placed in front of my children.

5:49pm -- Torte was gone.

While it started out looking like a disaster waiting to happen, the kids eventually both ate well and chocolate always improves everyone's mood.  After dinner we let them run around a playground for an hour and they had a blast.

8:03pm -- Both kids in bed, sound asleep.

Happy Father's Day!