On Fridays, it has been a tradition since she was only a few months old, I take Evelyn out for lunch. Its something I hope we can continue as she grows older, just a meal between my daughter and myself - enjoying good food and good conversation. Although, mostly there isn't much conversation since her words are mostly gibberish. But someday...
Starting out, we would go to a restaurant called El Meson, an amazing Indianapolis Mexican franchise. I would mostly give her a bottle and then eat my taco salad, burrito, or whatever.
El Meson is kind of pricey, though, or as one of my coworkers would describe it, "Salty on the price." So after about a month or two of that, we switched to something in a similar vein, but substantially cheaper. You may have heard of Taco Bell?
Once Evelyn moved into solid foods, though, that's when the fun began.
We hit up McDonald's and she had some happy meals. We shifted over to Burger King and that lasted only one week before we moved over to something a little smaller, a little easier for a one and a half year old to grasp - White Castle.
Those little sliders were like Whoppers in Evie's hands, and she loved them.
We've ate at White Castle once. The first time, and once more recently because I forgot what the diaper changing afterwards was like after we went the first time.
Thank you White Castle.
We shifted back to Taco Bell for a while, because Cheesy Roll-ups and Cinnamon Twists are one of my daughter's all-time favorite meals. After a while, I even dared giving her a little of her own soda rather than having to remember bringing our own juice for her to drink.
Mountain Dew was not a good idea. I thought she was going to start floating and become a being of pure energy at one point. You know, go all "Human Torch" on me or something. So, no Mountain Dew.
Again, I feel as though a wise man would have known better.
Recently, we have expanded our diverse dinners into the Asian region. That's right, we've been hitting up a Chinese Buffet.
Not because she wanted to, but because she eats free and I love General Tso's chicken. Well, I love just about everything at the Chinese buffet, but that's not the point. She eats free!
I use the term "eat" quite loosely. Mostly, the only thing Evelyn will eat while we are dining at the Chinese buffet is anything but Chinese food. She devours their Garlic Bread, munches on fried meat balls (Which I'm pretty sure, is not an Asian cuisine), and will slowly nibble away at chicken nuggets and french fries.
The only thing that really seems authentic from the restaurant she enjoys is the Chinese powdered donuts.
But she only gets those if she eats all of the non-Chinese food. Which rarely happens.
Who cares, though? I mean, really? She eats free and I get to spend quality time with my daughter. Just one-on-one and she will talk and chatter and I know nothing of which she speaks but every time we come home, no matter if its Chinese or Tacos, she's had a great time having lunch with her dad.
That makes it awesome.
Plus, the MSG's in that food is perfect for nap time, which follows lunch!
