Life of Wry

We’re not asking questions, but after many, many years of Peter forgoing Sunday brunch with his parents, he joined us this weekend.. second weekend in a row.

It probably won’t be a thing until he does it again, and maybe again after that, but two weekends in a row is pretty earth shattering.

It’s been at least five years, I’d guess, since he was a regular attendee. Before that, it was our no-fail Sunday morning ritual, a practice that started when he was just days old. I’m not kidding. I remember months and months when he slept in the carrier on the table. Then he could sit in a high chair (big deal). Then, of course, he transitioned to booster seats… I’m sure you know this progression. There were a few years where we’d battle over venue, but we finally devised a clever system of rating and ranking choices and then used those rankings and our elaborate point system to determine a rotation schedule that accommodated everyone’s favorites. That resulted in a few blissful, non-confrontational years of dining. But then, sort of abruptly (and sadly for us), Peter opted out. As the teen years settled in, he favored sleeping over breakfast with us. Go figure. But we acquiesced. We’d have preferred his company, but he preferred hanging in the house by himself, on his own time. We’d bring back his usual, unless he texted us otherwise. Depending on the hour, that could even be a hamburger from Burgers and Brew, an easy stop on the way home. We’re swell that way.

I lobbed an invitation his way on countless occasions, Hey, you wanna join us for breakfast?, which he never, not once, took us up on. But I did it anyway.. cuz you never know, right?  If one of our birthdays landed on a Sunday he’d come, but otherwise.. nope.

But now, on the cusp of turning 18 and leaving home, he’s coming back. Well, maybe. He’s done it twice. Without prompting.  I feel like Sally Field… “You like us, you really like us!

Let’s be clear: Two is a micro trend… but two does not a habit make.

So.. I, being weirdo me, got some pics:

Because it was the day after Picnic Day, downtown was crowded with students and their visiting families. We couldn’t get into Black Bear Diner (never a place Jim and I go), and Peter didn’t want to go to Bernardo’s, El Toro Bravo or Crepeville. Season’s wasn’t open yet, and Jim was not having any part of Bistro (see.. this is why we had developed our point system), so we decided to try Caffe Italia, even though that’s where we’d gone last weekend.

It was a nice walk on a warm morning:

No lines, no wait, got right in. And it was great. A bit stressful talking about college choices and the need to tour some of his options, but otherwise lovely.

Here’re some shots on the way home, because I’m still thinking this may not happen again.

You’ve seen this butterfly bench?

The mural-filled bike tunnel?

This is the cut-through in Aggie Village:

I liked this…. a little K just sitting there on the sidewalk…

And that was that.

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I liked this picture I took last night of the Waterboy, where we joined Don and Trish for dinner….  always seems like a treat to drive into Sac.. the big city, you know.