National Cheesecake Day

Yesterday, I was post-call and therefore not at work, Anthony wasn't scheduled to work, and The Cheesecake Factory was offering half-price cheesecake slices, so of course we used that as an excuse to have lunch there. There were a lot of people there, but we decided to sit outside, so we didn't have to wait for a table. The temperature and humidity wasn't bad, especially for a summer day in San Antonio.

Natalie and I were going to share an order of Miso Salmon, my current favorite entree at The Cheesecake Factory, so we sat next to each other. She was very reluctant to have her picture taken, but I'm so glad that she eventually agreed. Can you believe she didn't like her hair in this photo because some hair was sticking out at her ears? Patrick and I have to work extra hard to get this girl to believe that she is beautiful.

Eric was making as laugh in this picture. At first he had a super big and silly smile and squinty eyes, then he decided to have "big" eyes. His eyes got smaller by the time I snapped this picture just because he was laughing so hard. Silly boy.

It was nice to have lunch with Anthony. I'm starting to miss him already. He constantly tells Eric things that aren't true and then Eric hesitates for a second and realizes that whatever it was Anthony said wasn't true. The downside, of course, is that Eric doesn't believe ANYTHING anyone else tells him either, because he has been trained to be skeptical. Anthony insists that he is trying to show Eric that even adults can be wrong sometimes. Thanks, dear. Maybe you couldn't have waited until he was a little older--to give your parents a little more time with a child believes everything we tell him. What's also scary (and admittedly, funny) is that Anthony says he will do the same thing to his kids when he has them.

Alex couldn't come with us yesterday because he was still volunteering at the PE Camp at his high school. Yesterday was his last day, however, so he was free today. I told Patrick yesterday that I would "fall on the sword" and offer to take Alex to The Cheesecake Factory again for lunch today. :)

We would have gotten Alex something yesterday, but he wanted the Fettucini Alfredo, and that dish is better fresh rather than heated up. He also wanted to get the Strawberry Shortcake, which comes with ice cream, so obviously, that was not something we could easily bring home for him. I had to help him with it because, after eating almost all of his food (which was a full dinner portion), he was already pretty full, and this dessert was so HUGE!

Eating there was not a problem for me either, because I had my second favorite favorite entree--Chinese Chicken Salad. It used to be my favorite, until they started offering the Miso Salmon. All the entrees at The Cheesecake Factory are large. This one is so big that even before I eat it, I put half of it in a to-go box so I can put dressing on the part that is left. That way the lettuce can stay half-way crunchy for the next meal. I got the lunch portion and it was still very big. I took off the noodle thingies that they use to decorate the top before putting half of it in the to-go box. Alex decided to try to pick it all up in one piece.

Oh, and I ordered an extra Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake to take home. I don't need to be eating that much cheesecake, but my family loves the Godiva one, so they will be snacking on it tomorrow. A second meal at The Cheesecake Factory was a nice excuse to spend a little time with my second oldest son.