twinkle toes.

THANK YOU guys for actually reading through that epic long post and for your kind, encouraging words!  it means a lot to me to have dear friends to share both our good times as well as our hard times with, so i thank you for your support, be it near or far– each of you are very dear to me!

so last night, we decided to take the kids out to celebrate.  we ended up at the melting pot for a late dinner.  everyone was in high spirits and the excitement seemed contagious.  the kids didn’t really know why phil and i were so happy, they just knew that we were in a good mood and that was enough for them to also be really happy.  and when the kids are feeling happy, it translates to physical joy.  as in they bounce instead of walk.  hop side-to-side instead of moving forward.  run up and down and around. even if it’s in a parking lot with cars coming in and out.  this makes me nervous and causes me to keep a closer eye on them and issue more warnings and threats that i expect them to heed.  you could say that i’m on orange alert.

so we arrive and get out of the car.  i tell mikey and allie to stay close to me.  to get from the parking garage to the restaurant, there are a series of narrow, concrete steps that you have to work your way down.  as soon as we reached the steps, i warned the kids to be very careful because it would hurt a lot if they fell on them.  i even took allie’s hand as an extra precaution since she tends to be tippy and trips herself up all the time.

now i know where she inherited her tippiness.

about five steps from the bottom, i managed to misjudge the next step and my foot sorta landed halfway between that step and the one below it.  which then somehow caused my foot to buckle underneath me and before i knew it, i was coming down for a crash landing.  directly on my knee.  at the base of the concrete steps.  mid-fall, i must have yelled or screamed or something equally dainty and lady-like because i saw phil (who was walking with lauren in front of us) turn around just in time to see me crumble into a heap on the floor.  it was not my finest moment.

thankfully, i fell in such a way that i landed across allie’s path.  and since i was still holding her hand when i went down, she came down after me.  but my body broke her fall since she landed on top of me and got back up with hardly a scratch on her.

it all happened so fast, yet almost felt like slow motion.  as in– “oh no…  i’m totally going down…  and i can’t save it…  this is gonna be ugly…  AHHH MY CAMERA!!!”

i saw my camera swing down next to me and smack onto the concrete stair above me.  it wasn’t a pretty sound.  and i felt the worst about that more than the blinding pain concentrated in my knee and scraped up foot.  but because my kids were all hovered around me, i kept back the tears and just stayed put for a few moments clutching my knee.  not that i could have moved right then even if i wanted to.

and doctor phil immediately jumped to the worst conclusions (funny how those doctor-types always seem to do that) and asked if i tore a ligament or dislocated my knee or fractured a bone.  i wasn’t sure if i knew the extent of the damage i sustained, but i was pretty sure i was okay.  it was my camera that needed immediate attention, so i directed phil to check it over.  it looked like it was okay so he handed it back to me.  i took a test shot.  it seemed to be in good working order.  whew.

and now i was starting to feel silly just sitting there at the bottom of the steps, so i carefully stood back up and we slowly made our way into the restaurant.

thankfully, the steps face a windowless side of the restaurant so i don’t think anyone besides my immediate family witnessed my crash-and-burn moment.  and my jeans were just long enough to cover my scraped up foot which was now beginning to bleed.

but we were there to celebrate, darn it!  so we carried on, with phil periodically checking to see if i was okay throughout the meal.  i was fine as long as i didn’t move my left leg too much.

so aside from that embarrassing moment, we did end up having a fun meal together which the kids really enjoyed.  and here are a few grainy pictures for your viewing pleasure (not to worry, there are no pictures of my injuries.  the embarrassment of it all and the lovely bruises i have today more than preserve that particular memory).

give this girl crayons and something to color and she’s happy. content. quiet.  i love that about her.

this girl however, couldn’t wait long enough for our server to finish making our cheese sauce and got the show on the road right away.

but there was no turning back once she finally did discover the wonder that is ooey-gooey cheese sauce.

she even insisted on doing it herself.

mmm…

“do you like the cheese, little sister?”

the restaurant was still crowded even though we got there pretty late and so there was quite a lag in between our courses.  poor girl was getting tired.

but everyone perked back up once the main course arrived.  and so much for my decree about not playing with your food…

there was another lag in between the main course and dessert.  (though not our server’s fault– she was actually really great.  very friendly, super nice to the kids, attentive to refilling our drinks.  and kinda reminded me of kristin davis.)  daddy’s iphone came to the rescue.

apparently, i’m the only one in my family who just doesn’t get what the big deal is about this whole iphone business.  (though i do have to admit it comes in pretty handy to keep the kiddos entertained while waiting for what mikey says feels like 28 days).

kristin davis?  no?  in any case, here she is lighting up our dessert.  and being embarrassed that i’m taking her picture. 

the flaming turtle!  milk chocolate, caramel, and chopped pecans, flambéed tableside.

i knew the kids would love this dessert.  chocolate and blue fire, what’s not to love?

i think the long lag-times have long been forgotten.

“can we do this again tomorrow, mommy?”

the end.

and i’m still sore today.