Best laid plans...

Last night we took my grandmother out to dinner. She's a widow and we enjoy getting to visit with her one on one every once in awhile. Plus she loves to get out and be social. I had it all planned: we were going to Olive Garden. I bought a giftcard at Safeway (to earn points for the power pump gas rewards) and there was a coupon in the 01/11 inserts for $2 off each entree. Perfecto!

We had to wait for Husband to get home, so I fed the girls their dinner and planned on letting them snack at the restaurant. They would be up past their bedtime, but I figured they'd be okay.

The first problem we ran into was ridiculous traffic! Oh my goodness, it was a mess. Since Olive Garden was about 15 minutes away in good traffic, there was no way we would be able to do it in this crazy gridlock. Quickly, we decided on an alternate restaurant that would be close and kid-friendly.

By the time we ordered our food, the girls were done. I walked them around the restaurant and the diners got a kick out of them, thankfully. (It was Carrow's, and there were a lot of senior citizens there who thought they were so cute.) The food came and the girls ate for, oh, about one minute. Luckily Husband is a fast eater! The girls were so wiggly and then one of them started crying and fussing...Husband eventually took them out and said, "I'll meet you in the car."

I felt so bad. Husband is in the car with two crying babes, I'm trying to eat something, and I feel like I'm making my poor grandmother shovel down her food so we can go home. Arrgh! I profusely apologized and of course she understood. We decided that next time we would have her for dinner at our house. 16 months is not a good age for dining out!

So after all is said and done, I still have the Olive Garden giftcard...and I'm desperately craving their breadsticks and salad! Maybe we'll try it one more time...