A Cold Stone kind of night...

DaddyDude has been working A LOT over the past year, due to his added responsibilities. I can only imagine he will continue to get busier and busier. Sometimes it feels like I'm a single parent, he's hardly around! He is working hard for our family, I know - but it just makes our time together that much more precious.

Last night, he was supposed to have a business meeting after work (and wouldn't have been due back until 8 pm or later), but for some inexplicable reason, it was cancelled. He was excited to get some extra time with his girls, so we headed off for dinner, where he kindly bribed the girls with Cold Stone ice cream if they agreed to eat fast food Chinese food for my sake (versus Chick-Fil-A to see "the cow", their favorite place). Isn't he a sweetie? The girls aren't stupid so they agreed. Actually, it was kind of funny - during dinner, they excitedly proclaimed, "THIS IS THE BEST CHINESE FOOD EVER!" over and over again. Glad they were happy, that's all I can say! Me, too, because I didn't have to cook. :)

Cold Stone ice cream is always a hit with them. They always enjoy playing around the water fountain. One of these days, Mika is going to fall in, I am sure...

Before going out, I was treated to a puppet show. On the left, you can see the rapt audience. On the right, there's the stage. Pretty elaborate, eh?

The first show was called, "The Little Mermaid". I had to laugh, because Aerial was some Barbie doll (it was a gift, okay?) wearing a fabric scrap tied so that two ends looked like a fish tail. Clever, right? The girls apologized that none of the other characters had costumes. Sebastian the Crab was played by Batman (still in his regalia), Buddy Boy (the tan dog) was Titan (Aerial's father), and the white dog (no idea if he has a name or not) was the Sea Witch.

Silly, yes, but I am grateful that the girls are creative and can engage easily in free, independent play. They were even creative enough to have "music" accompanying their production! The second show, "Thumbelina" (named after one of the bunnies), featured the vocal stylings of Marika. :)