Nothing much happened all day until Rob came home in the late afternoon. I'd decided we needed a day to just hang out and do nothing, so we did. It was worth it. When he came home, I called the kids down from where they were resting in their rooms, and we drove out to the Norfolk TRU to spend the five $3 gift cards they'd sent. {They always send the kids extras; don't ask me why.} We decided to divvy them up thusly: 2 for Soap, 2 for Jack, and 1 for Chloë.
First things first, though: we stopped at Customer Service to get Sophie's crown and balloon, and have her name announced over the PA system. She enjoyed that. You may recognize her dress as the one we bought for wee Chloë back in Guam. It never really fit Chlo correctly when she was four. Or five. Or six! But it fits Sophie perfectly now, as if it was made just for her. So we've decided it really was for her all along, and we just didn't know it yet.
Our next stop was to the shelves right behind her in the above picture, to see what kind of watery fun we could get with our $3 cards. Sophie chose two big packs of water balloons, which was great since we'd just run out. Chloë selected a jumprope with bubble-blowing apparati in the handles, a big, pink, rubber bouncy ball, and another bottle of bubbles. All that for one $3 card, and I only ended up owing 70¢ on hers! Jack decided to save his for Matchbox cars. Of course.
On the way 'round the store over to the cars, they boys were stopped in their tracks by the Legos display. I think Rob rather wishes the boy-child were more into them, but he doesn't really play with the few he has. Maybe if he had a big set-up like this one... but those cost beaucoup bucks!
Back near the ride-on section, I remembered Jack needed a helmet for his 'new' bike. The girls immediately hopped on bikes of their own. Sophie looked so grown-up on hers, so she'll be needing one next, too. The kid behind the helmet is Chlo, of course!
After multiple tries in multiple sizes, all the way down to an infant size 1, we were out of luck when it came to finding a helmet to fit Jack's dinky little skull. The size 1 was about right, but it wasn't Snell or ANSI approved. I had no idea what that meant, but my cyclist husband, thank God, is omniscient when it comes to that stuff. No bangin' the noggin!
In the end, for his two cards, Jack chose a squeaky little bike horn for his wheels, and a five-pack of Matchbox cars he didn't already have (imagine that). I thought they did a good job picking out their treats. They were all kind of whiny at that point, especially Sophia, so I made them wait until we got home before I let them have them.
Heading back home... where Sophia pretty much threw a fit about heaven-knows-what and landed herself down for a late nap. If ever a little girl needed a nap, she was it, today. Jack happily played outside with his bike horn, and drove his Caddy around, and Chloë played with her ball, her bubbles and jump rope, and read her American Girl magazine that came in the mail today. She loves that rag.
We are on a big eating-out kick lately, which is funny since I can hardly eat anything. But it's good for Rob, who is quite fond of leftovers. I wanted to use either a Restaurant.com certificate - of which we have many right now, after that great Cashbaq.com sale I found a while back - or an Entertainment book coupon, and go check out someplace new. Or the new Texas Roadhouse around the corner, which Stim gave us rave reviews for on service, ambience, and food. Rob chose the former. We waited a while and then woke the sleeping child. Horrors! But she was fine.
I had thought this tapas restaurant, for which we had a certificate, sounded like a fun place to take the kids and let them try a little bit of this, a little bit of that. You know, get some culture. Hoo boy, was I so wrong. We had no idea. It was actually quite the club scene, very avant-garde, very adult. Upon stepping into the place, we looked at each other and asked the hostess/server (who was smokin' hot and whose dress was up to there): "Are our children even allowed in here?" It was after eight. She said as long as we were staying for dinner and out of there by nine, they were fine. Then it gets all smoky and filled with people drinking and stuff. So, yeah, great for a parents' night out, or a date, or some such; not so great for taking the kids. But we opted to stay and have a quick sup.
All of these pictures were by candlelight, so pardon the darkiness. The décor was very cool, and the kids were really drinking it all in. We were kind of being looked at - I was wearing very mommish duds, and the kids were, well, there, so people had to be thinking, like, what the hell? But the server-chick was very welcoming, completely lovely, and overall very nice, so we didn't feel too uncomfortable.
Jack was very into the ravey-techno-hiphop music they were playing. He looks quite calm here, but don't be deceived: he was rocking out!
Sophia was very curious about the disco balls. Conversations with Sophie often go like this:
S: What's that?
Mom: That's a disco ball.
S: What's a disco ball?
M: That!
She was also very enthused about the lemon wedge in her water. The girl likes a lemon wedge and this one was her very own!
Chloë liked all the changing lights inside the restaurant, and the videos they were playing on screens all around. She was pretty hungry, so I kept telling her that tapas were small portions, and we'd ordered a bunch of different things, and that this was a 'fun' thing for them to try new things and eat new foods. She was ready. Jack... I was worried about him!
Just an idea of the atmosphere inside Central 111 Tapas Bar... for you locals, definitely check it out sometime! Uh, hire a sitter, though.
The first dish out was the veggie spring rolls, served with soy sauce and a sweet & spicy sauce. As you can see, it didn't last very long. All three kids really liked it! As did I. Poor Rob, I don't even think he got to try any of it.
Next up were the veggie skewers, in some kind of yummy sauce. They were giant pieces of portabella mushrooms, and tomatoes... so those were all Rob. That was his favorite, I think (go me for picking it!). I did enjoy the piece of artichoke I ate from it.
These were jumbo lump crab balls. I liked them, but Chloë adored them. I think she ate the equivalent of a whole one by herself! She told me, "Mom, you really need to find the recipe for these and make these at home!"
I felt like a hero when this cheese platter arrived, for ordering it for the kids. Sophia helped herself to two strawberries and half the rest of the plate immediately, and Jack and Chloë ate a good amount of it, too. The cheese was definitely yummy; it was a great selection and worth the $13 plate cost (the most expensive thing we ordered by far).
The last dish to arrive was the Raspberry Shrimp, which was an afterthought when the Antipasta Rob asked for was no longer available. Ever. Everyone but Chloë enjoyed this.
It was a very successful evening. Everyone ate well, and the only one still hungry was Rob, who can really pack it away for such a thin dude. I felt like I was actually "out" for once, harkening back to my clubbing days in Miami, or the night we spent at the fancy-schmancy hotel in Madrid. We will definitely return sometime - on a Friday or Saturday night as a couple, or much earlier in the evening on a Wednesday or Sunday when the tapas are BOGOF! They are open until 3 AM (!!!) every night of the week, which is awesome and surprising. The beautiful people were definitely starting to trickle in when we were finishing up, so we high-tailed it out of there. The kids got lots of looks then.
Hope you've had a good week. What are your weekend plans?
Fin.
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