Our Birthday Tradition

Birthdays are special at our house.

Each year, the birthday boy/girl gets to choose a place to eat out, and since we don't eat out as often as many families, it makes for a special treat for all of us.

Tonight, we visited a local restaurant in celebration of Gregg's birthday.  His birthday was two days ago, but tonight was the best time for all of us to go out together.

While the kids and I tend to choose more familiar places to eat, Gregg is notorious for scouting out some place to "widen our horizons."  He's always trying to choose somewhere we have never been.

Sometimes that works out well.

Sometimes, not so much.

(Like the year we visited the Indian Cuisine Restaurant with 5 little ones in tow. We walked into a place with candlelight, cloth napkins, and waiters in tuxedos.  I wanted to leave, but Gregg said it would be fun!  We learned that the service was awesome. We also got lots of compliments from other customers saying how nice it was to see parents bringing their children to a nice place to show them how to display proper manners.   I was just praying my boys wouldn't belch or pass gas loudly!  Or pick their nose or spill their drink!  We learned that we didn't care for the high amounts of curry used in the Indian traditional dishes, so it's a running joke in the family that they have really good bread, b/c that was our family's favorite part of the meal!  I have to admit it was a fun memory.  Gregg was right.)

So...this year, Gregg took us to George's Italian and Lebanese Restaurant.  None of us had ever been.  Somewhere new...a little culture learning and adventure with our 9 children.

3 brick-oven-baked pizzas...

 2 baked lasagnas...

1 philly cheese steak calzone...

1 George's trio (lasagna, manicotti, ravioli)

3 appetizers (chicken fingers, cheese pies, and some kind of other little pastries we can't remember the name of)

1 Tawook chicken...

10 waters...

And everyone was full!

The service was kind and helpful.  The atmosphere was nice.  The food was good.

$138.00 + $20 tip = $158.00 family birthday meal

This is what a birthday meal looks like for our family of 11.  It seems crazy to me that we would spend so much on a meal when I could literally have bought 2 weeks of groceries with that amount!

But, this is something special we enjoy doing as a family.

It's something our kids look forward to experiencing.

And, it's something for which we plan and budget.

It's Our Birthday Tradition.