Family Date Night

 D.R. and I rarely go out on 'date nights' these days.  It's just not that practical with two little ones at home, and of course I don't like to spend the money because as most of you know, I'm CHEAP  When we do go out, it's usually with all 4 of us.  Our favorite place to go as a family is Benihana.
Did you know if you go to their website and become a member of "The Chef's Table", they will send you a $30 gift for your birthday?  I think that's a pretty cool deal, especially since we love Benihana, and would be going there anyway!  The deal was supposed to be 'up to' $30 off the birthday persons meal, however I ordered 3 things a la carte and our awesome server just took the entire amount off of our total bill.  That's my kind of deal.  We just ordered a whole bunch of stuff and shared. 
The girls got to try out training chopsticks, and had a blast.  They did very well, even with the little grains of rice.  It was fun to watch.

 

Gia is our adventurous eater.  She got her own sushi and a bowl of rice.  She ate my soup and some of her Dad's sushi too!  She loves trying new things and seems to really enjoy the whole culinary experience.  Tia on the other hand was happy with her bowl of rice and nothing more.  I'm surprised she didn't ask for peanut butter and jelly!  Not exactly a foodie.

It was a great experience to go to a nice restaurant as a family.  The girls call it "family date night" and we think that's cute.  We do these sorts of things with them for many reasons.  Of course we want them to grow up with fond memories of the time we spend together.  But we also think it's important that they experience different cultures and foods, as well as learning how to behave in a restaurant.  These are things that we didn't get to experience much as children, and now we can offer the experience to our kids.
Fun stuff!