Jami's Family Day

Yesterday was our Family Day; January 11 was the day the Guatemalan authorities declared us legally a family. So every year we celebrate by getting a family portrait, then spending some fun family time. We got our portraits done, long story there, but it boils down to, I'll post some pics later. I love family portraits because it allows me to alter the memory to "Look how organized and perfect we all are". Also, Eddie is so dang cute, you just can't TAKE a bad picture of that little dude. After pictures, we hit the candy store where Eddie picked a few of his favorite treats to eat in the car on the way to an indoor play place. Eddie, who loves only climbing more than running, found his glory in the giant climby-thing with a huge slide and plenty of tunnels and whatnot. Of course, once he saw someone else's mommy in the climby-thing, guess who got to join him? Yes, nothing like being a thirty-something mom crawling around on padded platforms and cargo nets. Of course, after begging, pleading and dragging me to the highest level, Eddie slips down the super-secret back exit, leaving me alone at the top, with no child anywhere near me. I'm sure that looked totally sane. The Husband introduced Eddie to the joy of Whack-a-Mole (although theirs was actually whack a shark, but you know, same idea) and Skee Ball, which Eddie enjoyed, but did not excel at. We discovered that 2-year-olds are inexpensive at video arcades, since he didn't often care whether the game was actually playing for many of the games. After seeing a grade school aged boy playing air hockey with his mom, Eddie insisted we give it a try, but didn't quite grasp the concept and employed the poor defensive strategy of repeatedly dropping the puck in his own goal so that it would pop out the bottom. At the (super mini) Mini Golf area, the Husband attempted to introduce his boy to the joys of putting, however Eddie insisted on using the non-PGA-approved method of pushing the ball with the club while guiding it with the other hand. He also really enjoyed gathering up all the golf balls available and tossing them onto various greens. After playing, we hit the toy store, because we had to return a Christmas gift, but it added the fun of getting a toy, even though Family Day is not about gifts. Eddie attempted to give Mommy a heart attack but taking off running down an aisle and vanishing. By the time I'd rounded up an employee to start a Code Adam (basically locking down the store and finding the missing child), the Husband came walking out of the electronics aisle, carrying a not-at-all-sorry Eddie. And he still got a toy. I needed a drink, but didn't get one. . . . . Finally we hit Olive Garden for dinner. I have to admit, a nice sit-down dinner at a real restaurant that doesn't have a play place or provide toys was more for me than the others, since I get desperate to have real food that someone else cooks and cleans up after that I get to eat while it's still hot. Eddie looooooooved the Zuppa Tuscana (sausage and potato soup) and managed to have a bunch of that and a bread stick before his entree arrived. I figured he'd be done, but no - he followed that with half a chicken breast, his whole side of pasta, a few bites of broccoli and another bread stick. Though he knows how to use utensils, he choose to eat his spaghetti by hand: grabbing big handfuls, shoving it in and chewing at the same time, and making a "grulmn, grulmn" noise. Most of our neighboring diners found it amusing; one cranky old lady gave him frequent dirty looks. Old bat, she's probably just jealous. I figure, you can only eat like that certain times in your life and when you're two is one of those times. I had a delicious lasagna roll dish and even dessert - this - which once I saw the picture, I didn't even have to look at the rest of the menu. We came home, tired and happy. We played a bit and Eddie went to bed. The husband and I had some tea and watched a movie. It was a good day. Several times I stopped to think: I could not be more blessed. What more could anyone ask for than a loving husband, a wonderful child and a great day together?