Longhorn's

Evan insisted that Daddy pick me up at work yesterday.

So, we decided to go to Longhorn's Steakhouse for dinner since we had a gift card and a coupon.

Wouldn't you know it...when John was parking the van some elderly guy and his wife bumped bumpers with us?!? John turned to me in an incredulous tone, of course, & said "How long have we had this minivan?!"

Anyway, no harm, no foul. Neither vehicle had any damage. I mean it was such a small bump that I literally thought that the stroller just shifted in the back of the van. LOL ;)

Dinner at Longhorn's was tasty. I had the half-rack of ribs with a loaded baked potato & a side salad with balsamic vinegarette (yeah...I know...why didn't I just go for the ranch or blue cheese at this point...lol).

Apparently there were at least 3 birthdays at the restaurant last night because the staff kept coming out, clapping and singing their version of Happy Birthday. (I couldn't quite make out all the words but I think they sang something about steak...my kind of birthday song...LOL). Anyway, Tyler gave me a quizzical look the first time they came out. The second time he started getting into it. He started clapping and laughing. It was too darn cute! Evan, stoic that he is, didn't even notice (or pretended not to).

On the way home from Longhorn's, Tyler kept saying something and pointing up at the little TV in our van. We figured out he was saying "Caillou"! Boy...he sure is a fast learner, huh?! LOL...So, we turned off my compilation of love songs and popped in the Caillou DVD for the boys.

We took a walk afterwards at the Woodland Hills High School (as if I could walk off all THOSE calories...). John stayed behind and walked with Evan since he was taking a leisurely stroller and let me walk ahead to get a real "work out" in pushing Tyler in the stroller. This time it didn't rain. So, my regular stroller didn't turn into a "jogging" stroller this time. ;)

Tyler went down for bed as soon as we got home (actually he fell asleep in the van beforehand). Evan asked if he could play outside a little longer. John decided to ride his bike around the neighborhood for a little while. So, I made sandcastles with Evan in his sandbox. Then, I had to carry him in later to give him a bath (yes...I know that's not good for my injury from the accident...but Evan wasn't giving in on this one...). My next-door "neighbor" (if you can call him that...he's essentially abandoned his house and comes back to check on it every so often) startled us during our "bath" argument in the backyard. He said he heard us in the back and wanted to hand me the $20 bill to pay John for cutting his grass for him. John's been doing that for him for the past couple of months now.

John had just gotten back from his bike ride in time before the rain came pouring down last night. He covered the sandbox for us (because I didn't get to that part during our "bath" struggles). Evan watched some of his shows on the Sprout channel before we convinced him to go to bed.

I ate a few marshmellows, drank some water and read some more "Twilight" before heading to bed.

Fast forward to today...

My mother-in-law calls me today at work to tell me that Tyler's sippy cup is missing. She couldn't find it anywhere. I even had her check the van in case we left it in there. Sinking feeling...We probably forgot it at Longhorn's. I called them. No luck. Time for a new sippy cup for Tyler. I think this time we're going to attach it to him on a leash! :)

Twilight

Yes, I've caved.

One of my friends lent me her "Twilight" paperback book.

What can I say? I'm curious what all the hype is about.

I was curious about all the hype surrounding the Harry Potter series, too. But, I actually was not curious enough to want to read the books (blasphemy in some circles...I know!).

Anyway, I'm not too far into the book and can understand how people can get sucked into it easily. The problem I have right now is that I'm realizing I'm a 30-some-year-old married mother reading a vampire/love story between TEENAGERS. That's the hard part for me to get past. LOL ;)

What's funny is that people act like this whole "fascination" with vampires is a new phenomena for teens. Come on! Truth be told...I already went through my vampire craze phase as a teenager. Can we say "Anne Rice"?!?

So, I DO understand the draw. Been there, done that. Although, what's interesting with this "new" vampire craze these days is that the characters are actually age appropriate for teenagers whereas I used to lust after older actors such as Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (apparently, so did Katie Holmes for the latter...LOL) a la "Interview with a Vampire" movie.