Chinese, Chinese

Last Saturday night after we took the kids to the nature night, we ventured into unknown territory with them. We ate...Chinese.

Now, that really shouldn't be so weird. We LOVE Asian food (though Indian, Vietnamese, Thai would get our first vote). But Ben's soy/nut allergies have greatly inhibited our eating out style.

But I've grown more disturbed that our kids think eating out means mac'n'cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches. Uck. So we decided a tiny bit of soy sauce wouldn't kill Ben and he could mainly stick to rice. He has safely had nuts in small quantities now (though, saving any attempts at peanuts until I have an epipen).

I was nervous. I was afraid we would have a 2-year old tantrum when we didn't meet our pint-sized dynamo's expectations. I was worried Ben would have nothing to eat.

I did my research and we found a highly-reviewed place. They had a dinner buffet (.50 per year for the kids) and it looked fresh and good. It was startling good. Ben discovered he liked crab meat, Ev happily ate white rice (sigh...) and Kyrie repeated throughout the night "I love Chinese," deeply connecting her to the women on my mother's side who loved to eat Chinese. Kyrie definitely got her $2.50 worth with four trips to the buffet, eating all the shrimp and pineapple her stomach could hold. (My daughter LOVES shrimp; how weird is that?)

It was one of those beautiful moments of contentment where I realized that Kyrie is going to be a great one to travel with and a good dining companion. As long as she doesn't make me eat shrimp.