Would you like that to stay or to go?

January 9, 2014 by
Ahhhh, the pros and cons of eating out/staying in with the twins. So many factors to consider! By staying in, you don’t have to feel like you are packing for a trip to the International Space Station or run around grabbing baby food in case the restaurant doesn’t have finger foods the babies could eat. 

While in Utah, almost all of our meals were at my parents’. The twins loved eating at the “grown-up” table with us, even when they had technically already eaten their meal in their high chairs. 

I love these Summer Infant Tiny Table placemats…genius.  

The downside of eating at home is that the mess stays there! With double the hands, faces, high chairs, trays and floor space to wipe down three times (plus the occasional snack) a day, it can feel like you’re a full-time bus boy. Doing multiple loads of dishes per day got a little out of hand as well. 
I wonder who Amelia learned that from? (By the way…not an open can, before anyone calls CPS). 

When going out to eat, the downside is definitely the copious amount of packing and lugging that takes place. On December 26, we loaded up our gear and drove up to the Marriott in Park City to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (yes, we got married the day after Christmas)! Insane? Maybe. Yes, our anniversary is always overshadowed a bit by Christmas, but the upside is that always have time off work to go out and celebrate by traveling somewhere fun.

Poor Samantha threw up about a half hour into our ride up to Park City. We had to take a detour to the closest bathroom available…inside a Wal-Mart to get her cleaned up. Not exactly how I envisioned spending our anniversary.

By the time we got up to Park City, it was late, so we ended up bathing the girls, putting them to bed and then ordering room service. The girls were great at the hotel…not a peep the entire night!
The next day, we took the girls to breakfast at the hotel. Most of the guests were there to ski, so the youngest kids we saw were maybe four or five. No babies on site! We definitely received a lot of attention walking around with these two. 
At the table next to us at breakfast was a Venezuelan family talking in Spanish. Jake and I could hear their conversation in the background while we ate, when all of a sudden we heard, “¿Has visto niñas tan grandes?” Have you ever SEEN such big babies?” 
Without missing a beat, Jake turned and replied, nonchalantly, “Estan muy grandes, ¿no?” (They are pretty big, aren’t they?) The Venezuelan dad looked over, surprised, and then we all laughed. We ended up talking through breakfast about the twins, skiing, and Venezuelan politics. Gotta love making friends with random foreigners!
A huge upside of going out to eat with the girls is that the mess stays there! While on our trip, we went out to Olive Garden with my friend from high school, Crysta, and her family. Out of the five kids at our table, Samantha and Amelia created 90% of the mess. I was so embarrassed! Bits of breadstick, cheerios, half-eaten orange slices and mushed carrots covered the floor within a ten-foot radius of our table. At least we didn’t have to clean it up. Better them than me. 
Besides the mess, the girls did great and were pretty fascinated with everything going on around them. We don’t go out to eat a lot in California, so we were kind of taking a gamble that the girls wouldn’t melt down. 
After a positive experience at Olive Garden and Zupa’s on New Year’s Eve with my mom, we decided to try our luck one last time and eat out at Milagro’s the night before we left. The girls had just gotten up from their nap, so we figured they would be in good moods, just like the other times we had eaten out on that vacation. 
Besides biting the table (just because she knows it annoys me), Amelia was pretty happy. Love these disposable placemats Jake picked up…perfect for eating out. 

Samantha, on the other hand, was on a mission to make me have a mental breakdown. She was screeching and throwing food the entire time. I eventually switched seats with Jake so that he would have to deal with her. We made it about 45 minutes into dinner before it was clear the girls had had enough, so we made a quick getaway. Fortunately, we are both used to gobbling down our meals like there’s no tomorrow (at home, you never know when a twin will prevent you from getting a bite to eat, so it’s either stuff food in your face when you can, or go without) and had pretty much finished eating.

The best of both worlds: having friends over to eat! This way, you don’t have to worry about packing any food up, but it still feels like a special occasion. Plus, you have some extra hands to help out!

I was so happy Kati and Erica took time out of their short vacation in Utah to stop by and meet the girls. I know both of these lovely ladies from high school (well, technically, I’ve known Erica since the fifth grade, when we were in Accelerated Lindon Learners class together…or “All-time Lindon Losers” as our class was referred to by the clearly less intelligent, and, therefore jealous kids in the non-accelerated classes).

Kati and I were in Newspaper, several AP classes, the Key Club, and the extremely prestigious “Chamber Guitar” (haha) together back in high school, but now that she lives in D.C., we don’t get to see her very often. When Jake was sworn in to the D.C. Bar back in June 2012, Kati acted as our tour guide around the city–so jealous that she lives there!

Samantha and Amelia were so excited to meet my friends and even sported the “First Lady” onesies and “Future President” socks Kati had sent them. The girls were utterly fascinated and had so many questions about Kati and Erica’s incredibly busy lives on the East Coast. Ok, I have to brag a little bit. Kati works at Gallaudet in D.C. and has, what I think, one of the most interesting jobs ever–getting to use sign language all day, translating, writing letters to politicians, coordinating visits to the school/hob-knobbing with senators, and planning Gallaudet’s 150th anniversary bash on Capitol Hill. One of her deaf studies papers is even being published in a book this spring, of which Samantha and Amelia have already pre-ordered a copy on Amazon!

Playwright extraordinaire Erica is currently getting her Master’s at Harvard (no biggie, right?) and the musical she wrote, The Weaver of Raveloe, is going to be performed at one of the premier musical theater stages in Boston this summer. Next stop…Broadway! I am seriously in awe of both of these girls!

In conclusion, whether eating out or dining in, good company makes meal time with the twins memorable!

Lots of love,

Signature

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Kati says
    January 9, 2014 at 3:45 am

    You are too kind. It was SUCH a blast to see you!!! You are amazing!