Easter lunch, a new family experience

Every year on Easter Sunday my family has had a tradition of going out to eat at the Olive Garden.  We've done this since I was a teenager and it was something that I always looked forward to.  When we lived in Stillwater we would have to drive about 45 minutes to Edmond because there wasn't an Olive Garden in my home town.  We would usually eat, then go to a nursery and buy some spring flowers.  If you know my family you'll understand the excitement about the green house.  Well, this year was our first time with two new little members of the family, Alea and her cousin Cora.  We made our plans after church as usual and Wren and I left with Alea as soon as our Bible study class ended in order to beat the rush and get a table (BTW, we go to bible study AFTER church service, we did not skip church to get a table).  We arrived and were told that the wait would be an hour.  For those of you who have little ones or have had little ones you understand that we were pushing it to wait for 5 minutes let alone an hour. Sarah and Casey arrived with Cora about 15 minutes after we did, but our parents were still at the church, with my dad on staff he had to tie up a few ends before leaving.  Both girls had skipped their morning naps because neither one of them can sleep in the over stimulating environment the church nursery creates.  Needless to say, they were both tired, hungry and just plain cranky. (I'm speaking mostly about mine).  After a few minutes of letting them both loose for a little exploration we decided that there wasn't much we were going to be able to do to keep Alea from screaming or crying so Wren took her to the front to watch people come and go where she soon fell asleep.  My sister Sarah and I decided we should go ahead and order our meals and then just play catch up after my parents arrived which was another 10 minutes later.  Wren came back to the table with Alea out cold and we all proceeded to try and eat a normal lunch.  (Wren ate his one handed).  After a 20 minute power nap, Alea woke with smiles and a fresh attitude.  

Wren and I consider parenthood a great blessing and having kids sure does change your life in so many ways.  We spend so much time laughing at the funny things she does that it makes up for the stressful moments.  

  So, it wasn't the laid back Easter lunch we'd all grown accustom to but I wouldn't go back to having an Easter without my Alea for anything in the whole world, however, next year we may be trading the Olive Garden for Chucky Cheese.   

(Check out Alea's Easter pictures posted on the right hand side of the blog.)