P,H,F,R: The Big 1-4

Happy Birthday, Youngest Child!!!!

We celebrated Youngest Child's birthday by taking him to a REAL Mexican restaurant - NOT Taco Bell, his usual choice. At 14 the horizons must be broadened!!  This was a place in our Midwest city that has come the closest to the tasty Mexican food I remembered eating when I worked in Texas one summer.  We could easily drive over to a small, Mexican border town to eat dinner on some nights.  I remember the limes and tomatoes being so luscious there, and the rice was so incredible as well as the roasted goat and beef.  I also was able to have my first Margarita made with limes right off a tree behind the small cafe.  We would also be serenaded on almost every corner by impromptu Mariachi bands decked out in velvet and jewels and fantastic hats. The richness of those voices and the harmony! The greatest thing about being in Mexico was the happy faces and the peaceful content in so many of the people.  I also remember how loving and utterly patient they were to every child - even the naughty ones. 

Well, here in the Midwest I found this wonderful little place that felt exactly like my real Mexican experience.  The tastes, the atmosphere, the Margaritas, the happy content of the waiters and cooks who talked to our kids so happily.  

So, I thought Youngest Child would really like it and he did!!  With one taste of his sizzling fajita burrito and the fresh, hot tortilla chips and spicy salsa he knew that 14 was going to be  good year!!

 Is it wrong that I wanted to put all these chairs in the back of my van?  I loved these.

Oh, those "almost smiles" of the teen years when the coolness sets in.  Cracks me up! 

Can you tell the baseball game was on?