So tonight, we had the best dinner we've had in a long, long time. And I'm not talking about the food, although it was good. We ate at the fairly new Italian place in town, Joe's Pasta. We always put careful thought into our choice of eatery these days. While taste of food and cravings used to be on the top of the list, they have now fallen down a few notches behind characteristic such as, fast service and loud atmosphere. Ahhh, the joys of having a baby. So, we're always hesitant to take Cale to Italian places because they tend to be dark, quiet, and not too kid friendly. We tend to eat a lot of Mexican. To tell you the truth, Joe's was no different than your average quiet Italian place, but we decided to bravely try it at our own risk. (It helped that there were only 2 cars in the parking lot!) To our amazement, Cale was on his best behavior. It helped that mama came prepared with a little extra ammunition this time. I learned some tips from a friend. Cale's baby bag was full of pizza rolls, cinnamon toast crunch, toys, suckers, and, the lifesaver for the evening, fruit snacks (thanks Megon, such a great idea)! (All of which are unhealthy choices for a baby, I know, but you do what ya gotta do, especially when it comes to avoiding fits in public!) We got to enjoy the entire dinner with Cale in his high chair, which hasn't happened for a few months now. It was so nice!

After dinner, we headed over to the Visitor's Center to let Cale look at the fish and turtles. Of course, typical boy, he loved every minute of it. Afterwards, we walked over to the park, because these days anytime you ask Cale where we're going, his response is always "park". So, let's just say we go a lot. Walking seemed like a good idea on the way. But, by the time we were finished, we were so hot and sweaty that the walk back wasn't too fun. We saw one of my second graders (I guess third graders now, sniff sniff) while we were there. I love seeing my students outside of school. You don't realize you miss them until you see one of them! On the walk back, Cale tried to chase some geese, which actually let him get a little too close for my comfort. I thought they must be pretty friendly and tame, until I heard the loud hissing directed towards my too-curious-for-his-own-good son. Who knew I could scoop Cale up so quickly!

Now we're home. Bath has been given, books have been read, and our little guy is off to sleep. So Mom and dad are going to sit around and watch a movie and eat some popcorn. Just another typical Friday night.