Happy Birthday to You...

OK-
So I'm a few days late with this one. Doug's birthday was Monday and all the poor boy wanted was to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Those of you who don't kow where we live are saying, "What's the big deal?" WELL, the big deal is that the closest Outback is an hour away.

Being the dutiful wife that I am, I pack up the kids and we head to Williamsburg for dinner (at 4pm before the crowds appear and we have to add to the torture by waiting for a table with 3 squirmy kids.) I figure they'll sleep during the drive and arrive refreshed and in good spirits. Yeah, right. Hudson slept for about 20 minutes and then woke up just in time to see us drive by a McDonald's playplace. What 2-1/2 year old wants to go to an Outback after seeing a Mcdonald's Playplace? Certainly not mine.

We get to Outback and are promptly seated in a booth. Hudson (who had to be carried in by Doug because he refused to walk at this point) proceeds to remove his Crocs and chuck them across the table. Before we can recover from that, he has located the famous Outback steak knife and is brandishing that at his sister. It didn't get much better after that, but the details go a little fuzzy. I think I've blocked them out. I do remember Nielson deciding that his eating needed some accompanying sound effects that sounded like a cat getting stuck in a thorny rose bush....Yep, we officially became THAT family.

Needless to say, after two spilled drinks, lots of wailing and crying, two loaves of Outback bread stuffed into kids mouths, Doug got to eat his Ribeye steak (And King Crab Legs, which Ellie ate most of.)

Happy Birthday, Honey. Maybe next year we can stick around long enough for you to get dessert.

(On a side note, Nielson decided that today would be the day he could finally hold his own sippy cup and take a swig. Hooray!)