Look, We Can Do Impromptu Things!

Last night was kind of an impromptu night, which unfortunately, doesn’t happen very often anymore. That would probably be one of the downfalls of having a large family for me – the lack of impromptuness because we are always so busy and our lives are always so scheduled. But I digress…

Yesterday, John went golfing with some work people, one of which happened to be my uncle (he’s one of John’s business partners). After they were done, John called me and asked if I had any dinner plans, and since I didn’t, he came and picked us up and we headed to a local restaurant (Liberty Tavern) for dinner with my Uncle Mike (when I told Ryan his response was “like in New York?” because we had spent a lot of time with my uncle and his family at the wedding).

Anyway, we got to the restaurant and got everyone situated. And by everyone, I mean John and myself, my uncle and his brother-in-law, and Ryan and Colton. Josh was a friend’s house and Kylie was at gymnastics. I ordered food for myself and for Ryan and Kylie, but not Josh (because he was eating dinner at his friend’s house). After the orders were in, I headed out to go and pick Josh up (had already set up a pick-up time before our impromptu dinner plans). After I got him, we got gas because the car was running on fumes, and then headed down to pick Kylie up from gymnastics. While I stayed within a 5 mile radius the whole time, the entire trip still took about 35 minutes :(

After I got Kylie we headed back to the restaurant and Kylie and I ate dinner. My uncle was being such a good sport with the craziness because of course Colton was sick of sitting in a high chair and Ryan was done eating and bored (they had been there for over an hour at that point). He kept making comments like “watching you guys is making me tired” and “you guys are reminding me of my past life” (because he also has four kids of his own). In the end it was a good dinner and a fun time.

And since Liberty Tavern happens to be right next to Rita’s, the kids begged to go there after dinner. Since I love Rita’s, I couldn’t say “no” :) So we went in and Ryan got half cotton candy/half orange, Josh got half root beer/half chocolate, and Kylie and I got Cookies and Cream. We got everything to go and headed home to begin the rush of homework and bedtime.

The kids ate their dessert, I put Colton to bed, John and Ryan showered, and then Kylie and Josh worked on homework. The last child (Kylie) finally got into bed around 9:15 and John was already asleep on the couch. I finished the night up with a long phone call with my sister Suzie and then desperately tried to watch TV but was unsuccessful and fell asleep within about five minutes :(

So while it was crazy and chaotic and NOT something I can handle doing all the time, this family of six can still be spontaneous…even if that spontaneous activity is just a dinner out :)