STAYcation: Fancy Dinner IN!

This is how we met Dennis at the door of the garage tonight. Well, actually he was a tad early for his 6:00 "reservation," so I had to talk Abby out of a funk (she was upset because she wasn't ready when he got home), build her morale up again real quick, and tape on the mustaches she had made ... all while boiling water for pasta and whipping up a salad. BUT ... it was worth seeing Dennis' reaction. Mario (Tyler) and Luigi (Abby) worked the door at "Abigail's Fine Italian Restaurant" tonight. They also played wait staff, and they doubled as restaurant patrons (minus the mustaches).

This little fancy dinner came about this afternoon, as we were headed home from a busy morning out and about. I asked Abby what she wanted for dinner. She said - Spaghetti (good! because I needed to go shopping and that's about all we had!) So, it became a fancy dinner IN ... because this IS a STAYcation afterall. Back when Abby was a baby, Dennis and I created "Abigail's" to celebrate our first New Year's Eve as a family. We dressed up and had dinner by the fire. Today, Abby had a blast making the restaurant menu. You should see the inside - it's super cute!

Then she and Tyler helped me prepare the table, make items for the dessert tray (we wanted to have a variety), and Abby called Dennis at work to alert him of our reservation. She told him we were extremely lucky, because "it's very difficult to get a table at Abigail's." You should have seen Tyler's face ... he was SO confused. But he quickly caught on, and corrected me when I called he and Abby by anything other than Mario and Luigi! He also insisted a Barney birthday candle (found in our china cabinet drawer) would look "beautiful" on our table with the other candles and votives! Oh well, I pick my battles. They did great at dinner (mostly), and I have to think that has something to do the promise of a sweet treat. Practicing for when we DO take them to a fancy restaurant, I had Abby ask Dennis if he "saved room." And she asked him if he would "like to see our assortment of specialty desserts?" We mixed up some quickie Pistachio Pudding Parfaits this afternoon, but the rest were leftovers from Father's Day weekend.

All the while, Tyler provided frequent updates on how much head had burned off Barney!At the end of the meal, Dennis got his bill: he owed a whopping 15 (hugs that is!). I love how Tyler had to get in on the action too. Oooo! The best part of the meal? I got to show Abby and Tyler how to use my crumber. I think these are awesome! Back in high school, I received this from a friend in the hospitality industry. Apparently I didn't get out much (still don't huh?), and I was QUITE excited about this little tool servers used to clear tables of crumbs before the next course is served. Well, you'll never believe what we're going to do tomorrow. Let's just say, I hope we don't see anyone we know while out and about. But WHY would we? No one knows us! We're just tourists on STAYcation!