Following the Trend...Nah, Family Trip Time!

There are lots of Day in the Life Of posts these days, and I'd like to provide my own, but before I get to that...

Last Saturday we three planned to meet friends in The Village and drive to Okarche to hit up the ever-famous Eischen's. We packed Drueby's bag, and we were off. (I'm so good at packing that bag now. It used to take me forever. I've acquired much more confidence in this area...and realize we need to take much less. That's the key.) Anyway, we drove to our friends' house and snatched up their little girl and threw her in our back seat. No, not really. We actually asked politely, "Olivia, would you like to sit in the back and entertain Drue on the way?" To which she replied happily, "Yes." And her parents gave the thumbs up, so we were off again. What an evening of driving.

Drue did well. She jibber-jabbered, and I think Olivia enjoyed herself. Collin and I enjoyed listening to the radio and watching our phones go in and out of Mountain Time. (What?) There was some Tweeting and some phone calling, and some singing, and we were there. Just before six o'clock. And it was already packed.

I had a bad feeling from the get go (assumed we wouldn't be eating fried chicken that night). We went in, and it took us a few minutes to realize that nobody seats you; you have to just hover over a table and wait for the occupants of it to finish their meal and get out of dodge. We hovered over a table that looked to be finishing up, but it turned out the people sitting there were still waiting for the table to be bussed! So I took Drue outside, and we crawled around on the cement and kept coming back to the ash pot, so we went back inside. (But while we were out there we were a hit, as usual.)

It was so loud, and Collin and Becky and Drue and I stood around the pool table, while Jolly and Maggie et al stood in this other room where they'd found out there was a line for tables. Ah, some order! Still, it was loud, so Becky and I took Drue back outside, but this time across the street and to the grass.


After a few minutes of leaving everyone else to do the dirty work (wait in line), we decided we'd be better friends and go inside. Soon after that, we (my family) decided we (Drue) probably weren't going to make it. So, we left.

On the drive home, I decided I wanted to go back a different way. I wanted to go south through El Reno. I always enjoy new sights and road trips, and I figured it wasn't to far out of the way. Collin was in the back feeding Drue, because he's a nice person, and I drove, enjoying the Oklahoma landscape. Soon we were there, and I knew Collin was hungry, so I was on the lookout for some eatery.

There was nothing.

I thought, Is El Reno anti-eating? Soon, though, we turned east, headed towrad I-40 and I thought I saw a Taco Bell. I passed it, so I turned a little late, then Collin realized it was a Taco Mayo. And right in front of us, where I'd turned, was a local Mexican restaurant called...something. I knew I'd forget!

On a whim I said, "Family adventure to authentic Mexican restaurant! (Followed by family stomach bug adventure.)" Is it really nerdy how excited I was to be doing something different? Because I was.

We jumped out of the car and grabbed Drue, hoping she wouldn't melt down before we could finish eating, and went inside like a couple of kids. We had so much fun. The food was great, which really we expected it to be (how can you go wrong with Mexican?), and it was like before we had the baby, except better, because the baby was there. And she did great. Oh, family memories...




Maybe next time I'll do a day in the life. But for now let's stick with:

Things to pack in an infant's bag:
1. 2-3 diapers
2. something to wipe baby's bum
3. a bottle and formula (if you're not nursing)
4. No toy - the keys will work just fine
5. No extra clothes - chances are she's NOT going to get so dirty I have to change her in only a few hours (but then, she's not a very drooly baby, hmm...)
6. Maybe some solids if what we're eating won't work for her
7. No everything else.

(I know that every baby is different and that these are just Drue's needs, but it's been nice for us to realize we needn't pack her whole room every time we leave the house.)

And finally, things to know about Eischen's (even though I was only there 30 min.):
1. Get there early.
2. You can order your food early so that you don't have to wait an hour AFTER sitting.
3. There is probably a line in the second room (so that you don't have to just hover).
4. Go with a smaller group of people if possible, or be willing to eat at different tables.
5. If you do hover, make sure the people sitting there aren't still waiting for their table to be bussed.
6. Don't bring a baby (for dinner) that doens't sleep well in loud public places.