March with Lisa

A very special episode of Dinner with Dad tonight.  Since this is the 5th Thursday of the month (kind of like a blue moon) none of the kids were scheduled for Dinner with Dad tonight.  Therefore there is a chance to have Dinner with Mom!  She is the one that helped come up with this idea, watches Rose while I have Dinner with Sara, hangs with Henry while I am out with Brittany and with Joe and has her one free night when I am out with Henry.  She is just as much a part of this as I am and I am thankful the she is 100% on board with this and helps to make it happen.

We decided to go to 20 and Oakes Bar and Grill.  We were both in the mood for something kind of middle of the road and a place that would not be loud and this place fit that perfect - plus I had a coupon that I could use in my Entertainment Book ;).  Surprisingly Lisa went with the BBQ Burger.  I say surprisingly because she usually goes with lighter fare, but she said she was just hungry for a burger tonight and she said it was fantastic.  I went with the Pan Seared Sea Scallops.  It was a strange mix of scallops, risotto, tomatos, and arugula salad that really worked - it was great.

As far as our conversation, as usual we bounced all over.  One of the reasons that we clicked on our very first date was the fact that we talked for hours and hours.  Well after years of dating and 13+ years of marriage that has not changed and we love to talk with each other.  We talked about work, family, the good things of life and about missing our good brother-in-law and friend Doc Johnson who left us one year ago this week.  He left us a reminder on what is important in life and how much a good person is missed after they are gone.  We miss you Doc, but I am sure you are up there giving Rose and all the other Saints a laugh a minute.

Back home we went to Henry, Sara and baby Rose.  Sara hung with Henry tonight so we could go out - thanks Sara!  A good night for all involved.

Dinner = $47.31 (with coupon :))  Time with my Spouse = Priceless!

March with Henry

Already the fourth week of March and time for Dinner with Henry.  For the first time, we just had dinner - no bowling or video games this time.  Henry promised that the dinner plus activities will be back but this time just dinner was good.

Even though we did not have an activity, Henry kept true to his theme of fun and we had dinner at IHOP.  Henry went with the Silver Five off the kids menu and I went with the Bacon Temptation Omelette (which of course also includes pancakes).  We were both stuffed by the time we were done and I have to admit neither of us made the "clean plate club" - it was more like the "oh am I stuffed and glad someone else will be doing my dishes club." 

The theme of the conversation tonight revolved around sports.  Henry likes basketball, football, soccer and baseball and does pretty darn good at all of them for a 3rd grader.  He also has become more of a fan of watching some of these sports and learning more about teams, players and game strategy.  Side note - Lisa always says that when she was pregnant with Henry, she prayed for a "sport-o" because she knows how much I like sports.  Her prayers were answered without a doubt :).  Second side note - as of right now - Henry is winning our NCAA Pool.

Dinner went by really fast and at the end Henry even commented "this went really fast".  That's when he let me know that dinner plus activity will be back soon - just plain dinner is just plain too fast.  I thank the Lord that he (and the other 3 kids) have this attitude versus the opposite!

Dinner = $16.00  Time with Henry = Priceless!

March with Brittany

Well for a first time ever, we have a Tuesday edition of Dinner with Dad.  Brittany is on Spring Break this week and typical of Brittany, a week with a "break" actually means a very busy week.  She has filled her week with some work, some play, some family, some friends and has a very busy week - all good.

So we met up at Chipolte.  For those of you not familiar, it is kind of like Qdoba but I definitely liked it better.  Brit went with the Vegetarian bowl while I want with the chicken burrito.  The kicker is that they had Margaritas.  So I went with a Margaritaaaaaah (that's what it said on the cup) on the rocks.  It was a slow night and the counter guy let me know that refills are on him (but don't tell anyone) so don't tell anyone.

Brit and I can get into some pretty serious conversations, but this one seemed to be lighter and lots of laughter.  We talked about her busy schedule, me looking for a career change and then went into quarky things about the world around us.  One very strange thing is that we both had a story that we started to tell almost at the same time that both led to telling each other about a movie that we heard about - and it was the same movie!  It is October Baby coming out next Friday.  It sounds really good and a must see, but it looks like it will not be in a theater very close to hear for now.  So I guess you all need to go see the movie and let us know what you think.

The dinner went quick and off we went to the rest of our night and busy weeks.

Dinner = $19.95  Time with Brittany = Priceless!

March with Sara

A little late getting this post up but it's been one of those kinds of week.  Anywho...

Sara stuck for the traditional Thursday night.  Our plan was to go to Racine's new Texas Roadhouse.  However, apparently we were not the only ones with that idea.  After finding out that the wait time was 45 - 55 minutes we decided to opt for Plan B.  Racine also has a new Red Lobster - let's try that.  Parking lot looked VERY empty - Plan B could be in trouble.  Sign on the door says "Training in progress come back for opening March 12."  On to Plan C.  We ended up at Lone Star (which ironically is very much like Texas Roadhouse) which had no lines and no waiting. 

After quickly getting seated it didn't take us long to start with some beverages and choose our dinners.  I found out something interesting when Sara ordered Cherry Coke.  That is the same beverage that Joe ordered on Sunday.  Who knew?  Sara went with the "San Antonio Sirloin" medium rare with smashed potato and chili.  I went with the Steak, Salmon combo along with a salad and steak fries.  Both were very happy and stufffed.

After completing the classroom part of her CNA course, Sara did her first week of clinicals this week.  She worked at Becker Shoop Center - elderly care center.  She spoke about her experience with such excitement that I am thinking Sara has found something that she is going to do very well at.  Sara has a very kind and patient personality which fits perfect with this just as it did when she was working with kids.

By the time we got back home, Uncle Henry and Glamma Lisa had Rose sound asleep.  But then wen Sara woke her up to go home, she was as smiley as ever and was very entertaining.  A good night for all for sure.

Dinner = $40.37  Time with Sara = Priceless!

March with Joe

Now that Joe has his own wheels, we had some flexibility to change the day and time to allow for a not so rushed Dinner with Dad.  So we moved the dinner to Sunday and Joe came down to Racine.

We ate at the always great Infusino's.  You can never go wrong or go home less than stuffed when you go there.  Joe ordered the lasagna and I ordered my favorite Eggplant Parmigiana.  Of course at Infusino's, not only do you get a main course all too big to finish but you also get soup salad and a side of noodles - mostaccioli for me.

Being that the pace was much more relaxed we had time to discuss all kinds of things.  We talked about religions, science, politics and women - can't say we have any one of them figured out but we sure have lots of opinions and ideas.

Dinner was great and then it was back to the house for a couple rounds of Mario Kart on the Wii with Henry.

Dinner = $25.18  Time with Joe = Priceless!