So last week my sister-in-law and I head out to the mall to pick up some gifts for some Fall birthdays that are coming up. Her son, my nephew Carlin, is exactly one month younger than my Cooper. Cooper and Carlin, oh yeah they’ll be trouble together for sure! Well they are just now getting to the age where they get to crawl around with each other on the floor and play. And they have a blast.
So anyway, after we shopped (uh, first things first and Mommy and Auntie Taryn needed some Nordstrom time) we let them crawl around and play for 30 germ infested minutes in the mall play yard for the under 42 inches crowd. They had a blast. After we disinfected them thoroughly, hey I’ve seen far too many Datelines, we decided to grab some lunch. After one look at our food court choices, don’t get me wrong I used to chow down on Sbarro slices like a champ but I was about 20 and it took at least a day or two to hit my hips, we came up with a plan…
The Nordstrom Cafe!
Brilliant, we are ladies who lunch, and we will dine on dark wood tables with silver and cloth napkins. Uh oh, then we realized we were manning the stroller brigade. We discussed, both sets of our older children were tucked away in preschool for the morning, nobody is screaming for hot dogs impaled on sticks, this is our chance! But neither of us brought along any baby food! Ah, screw it, we can find something to eat for the little ones…let’s do it!
So in we roll, literally mind you with our gigantic Bob jogging strollers and almost every head in the place turns and glares in our direction. When did old people get so mean? They certainly didn’t mind poking their hands into my infants’ car carriers in the grocery store as I stared on in horror grasping for the Purell and squirting it indiscriminately in their direction. Now I’m invading your turf? I’ve stepped over the boundaries bringing a 10 month old to lunch at 11 am? Do I have to assemble the Sharks and the Jets and we’ll throw down in a old fashioned rumble? Well screw you, we’re hungry, we’ll try not to hit your oxygen tanks on the way to our table.
So of course this is a tasting menu day and everything they are serving is super chic and there are absolutely NO SUBSTITUTIONS. Oh crap, we can’t give up now, we will not surrender! What are we going to feed these two? And thus began my new venture, thanks in part to the stares of the blue hairs, the beginning of Coop’s Culinary Adventures.
Check these cool cats out…
Cooper and Carlin dined on a tasty meal of Asparagus and Pea Saffron Risotto, Maine Crabcakes, and crusty San Francisco Sourdough bread. No purees here! They couldn’t have been happier and Coop hasn’t had a puree since. They sat happily for over an hour as my SIL and I caught up on all the latest. It was a blast.
Almost everyone of those blue hairs stopped on their way out to tell us how adorable the boys were and how they were so impressed with their behavior, yadda yadda yadda. All except the one set seated next to us. Have no idea what their deal was but they gave us the ol’ stink eye the entire time. Til I kicked one of their canes on the way out…kidding…but I wanted to.
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Those are some really cute kids. Kudos to you for getting out and enjoying yourselves.
You must have been sitting next to my grandmother! Ha ha! She’s a real pain…