...And the Fusilli's Not Bad Either

For a long time, Kathy and I were totally afraid to go out to a restaurant with the girls. Our early attempts to eat out with them didn't work out so hot. But in a valiant attempt to keep from being confined to our house for the next five years, we started forcing ourselves to go out to a restaurant at least once a week, just to get the girls used to being somewhere other than our house and the playground.

It's actually been surprisingly painless. I've learned that the secret to enjoying eating out with your twin infants is to come to terms with a few basic things:

1. Mommy and daddy do not get to savor their food. Mommy and daddy's dinner experience will consist of shoveling food into their mouths as fast as their throat and esophagus will allow.


2. The babies are going to make a total and complete mess. At the end of the meal, there will be bits of food in places around the restaurant that you would think would be physically impossible for the babies to reach. But, oh yes, they will reach them.


3. Approximately 238 times during the meal, mommy or daddy will have to stop whatever they're doing and pick up the toy that their daughter just threw to the ground.

Still, once you've adjusted your expectations a little, a meal out with the girls can actually be quite enjoyable.

On the way back from our "bacation" a couple weeks ago, we randomly stopped for lunch at this chain pasta restaurant in Pleasanton called Fuzio. As we stepped into the air-conditioned confines of Fuzio, the girls, who had been tired and hot and bored from being in the car for two hours suddenly came alive and lit up with joy and excitement. They looked around in awe at all the activity and food and waitresses and they were just enraptured by the whole thing. Our daughters fell in love with our waitress and would watch with big excited smiles on their faces as she walked around the restaurant, brought drinks to people, took orders, and typed in orders on that computer terminal thing. Our waitress, in turn, completely fell in love with the girls, making googly eyes at them and stopping by our table at every possible opportunity. (Would I like a fifth refill on my Diet Coke? Why, yes! Don't mind if I do! Thank you so much!)

The whole thing went so swimmingly that when we were coming back from our second bacation this past weekend (Yosemite), we made it a special point to once again stop at good ol Fuzio, even though it would've been far more convenient to have lunch somewhere earlier on the trip. Once again, it was like Disneyland to the girls. These girls who had been so cranky just a couple hours before once again turned into these smiling bundles bursting with joy. And when I say bursting with joy, I mean that they literally could not contain themselves. Their little bodies vibrated with excitement, their arms pinwheeled and flapped about exuberantly, their skin actually appeared to light up with the warm glow of happiness. We were seated at the same exact table, and were waited on by the same waitress. Again she came by about every ninety seconds to remind the girls of how adorable they were, and again the girls were totally enraptured, and again I got enough refills on my Diet Coke to make my bladder regret it in the car about 45 minutes later.

When the waitress brought our check, she complimented Kathy and me by telling us what a "great team" we were. Which was just the icing on the already delicious cake. A note to any waitresses reading this blog -- if you ever want to secure yourself a humungous tip, complimenting the dad's fathering skills in front of the mom is not a bad way to go.

A couple pictures from our little Yosemite hike, which Leah enjoyed a little more than Riley: