Yesterday, the weather was pretty lousy (rain, thunderstorms) so little one and I didn't have much of a chance to hang outside for any significant portion of time. She was disappointed because she was hoping our next-door neighbor, a girl about 9 years old, would play with her in the backyard - something she enjoys a great deal. She just adores "big girls" as opposed to kids her own age.
We did some activites around the house and then to liven things up, I called "daddy" to see if perhaps we wanted to all go out for dinner. My pumpkin got on the phone and told her dad, "Let's go to Old Country Buffet!" He agreed, even though its not one of his preferred epicurean delights. ;)
Believe it or not, I think it is one of MY favorite restaurants because I feel that I can eat healthfully there (think BIG plate of salad, and some yummy carved roast beef for protein and iron), and even indulge in some "no-sugar-added" dessert at the end of the meal. Its nice, too because little one actually eats a salad, some green beans, chicken, pasta, etc. No matter what other restaurant we go to, typically the only choices on the kids menu are usually something akin to chicken nuggets and french fries, or mac & cheese. This way, she gets a "complete" meal and at a very reasonable price.
Granted, its not full of "ambiance" and no fine wines are served with dinner, but for our "family night" purposes, the OCB was right on target. :)
After our gluttonous rampage at the "Country", we headed home and quickly changed into our swimsuits. Before you worry, that old adage "you'll get cramps if you swim after eating" is a total hoax.
We packed our towels, goggles, and change of clothes and headed to the newly opened community indoor swim center. It has a large "family pool", just right for little kids to splash around, a lap pool, and a diving well with a "drop slide" flume thing that is loads of fun.
We had such a good time and found it to be incredibly refreshing to swim, then take a hot shower and head home to bed. Ahhhhhh!
It was so nice spending that time together...I think each day our little family is growing closer and that is a wonderful feeling.
