"Clanlad's Birthday"

12/20/2001

There is a tradition in my family that whenever someone has a birthday that person gets to pick a restaurant and is taken out to dinner. I think it probably started because my brother and I always wanted to eat at McDonald's. Eventually we graduated from fast food though and started picking restaurants with metal silverware and no napkin dispensers.

Yesterday was the Clanlad's birthday so as tradition dictated he got to pick where he wanted to eat. No fast food for this lad though, he chose to dine at Ramono's Macaroni Grill! Admittedly it was because they cover the nice tablecloth with a sheet of paper and give each table four crayons. Still, the food was very good even though the service was slightly lacking. My iced tea came with no ice and we didn't get our bread until after all the main dishes had been served. Knowing how yummy their bread is, this had led to speculations of food theft while eyeing the table next to us.

After dinner a couple of waiters came over and sang "Happy Birthday" in Italian to the lad. He blushed and sank down in his chair before regaining his composure and blowing out the candle in his ice cream.

On the way home, we drove through our neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. There were plenty of very tasteful light displays but by far the best one was a huge red arrow on a rooftop pointing to the chimney. When we finally arrived, there was a birthday cake decorated with dinosaurs, palm trees and a volcano of frosting waiting. After another round of "Happy Birthday", blowing out his candles, and scarfing down some blue icing the Clanlad got down to the serious business of opening his presents. I won't detail all of his presents here, but I got him a minature planeterium.

For Christmas, I'm getting him a telescope. Shhhhh...

You know...you are such a good daddy. ::sniff:: Love you sugarpie! ~ Danikins @ 3:28 p.m. EST on 12/20/2001