Most Awesome Franchise Yet to Expand to Europe

A lot of fast-food franchises have made it to England but one that we really miss is Chick-fil-A. The food is good and the service is great. We managed to hit a trifecta visiting a local restaurant.

First, we had the coupons from the Howard County Library Summer Reading Program. The whole meal for parents and two children cost about five dollars. Splurging on a milk shake for dessert didn't seem like a splurge at all. It was certainly yummy.

Second, the night we went, a fellow came in with a funny hat and a box full of stuff. He came around to tables and told all the children that once they were done eating he'd make them a balloon. L started eating twice as fast. She was the first one done by a wide margin. As soon as she went up, every other child in the restaurant came flying forward. The line stretched half-way across the restaurant. He made quality balloon figures, too. L received a tiara and J a football. L was designated carrier after we left.

L, football queen

Third, before we left, another Chick-fil-A icon came out--the cow! He worked the room, shaking hands, high-fiving, and taking photo ops. L needed a lot of encouragement and literal hand-holding to say hi. J was much less shy.

J, the camera is over here!

We miss Chick-fil-A and hope it comes to England soon. It's a beautiful dream.

Jacob Shows Who's in Charge

We went to our local Chick-fil-A for some play time. Since we were the only ones there, Jacob felt free to roam around everywhere. And to exercise his control over his dad. Here are the pictures to prove it. He started out innocently enough climbing to the top of the hamster maze and pretending to drive the car.

Look carefully in the front wheel, or just look at the next picture

He was delighted and distracted for quite a while. There's nothing like being in the driver's seat.

Jacob is behind the wheel in more ways than one

Of course, nothing lasts forever. He went to another part of the maze. Suddenly, he claimed that he was stuck. "Help, Daddy, heeelllpppp!" was his plaintive cry. Which meant that I had to go climbing up into the hamster farm designed for someone half my height. By the time I got to where he was, he wasn't stuck. He seemed quite pleased to see me:

my evil plan worked, mwhahahahahaha!

He even demanded to take a picture of me, presumably to blackmail me. I'll nip that in the bud by publishing it here.

I suppose the experience wasn't too humiliating. The only problem is, someone looks like she's following in her brother's footsteps: