martinzoo

You know how hard it is to get A’s in college, right?

Well, this semester Aquagirl got ALL A’s! So we decided that that needed to be celebrated with the whole Martin clan! We left the dinner venue up to Aquagirl… and really, I was expecting her to choose something more upscale, or whatever…. But she ended up choosing this really cool place about 40 minutes from our home. It’s called the Riverside Diner. And honestly, every time I go there I expect to see Ritchie and Potsie coming out of the men’s bathrooms.

It’s exactly like stepping back into the 50’s. They have Formica tables and counters, swivel bar stools, jukeboxes on every table, and lots of 50’s memorabilia all over the place. They even have the 1950’s Chevy car driving out of the wall (I should have gotten a pic of that). The hostess spot is actually a car from the 50’s too. They have a huge, life-sized Elvis and Marilyn Monroe mannequin to greet you at the door. And the food is delicious! It’s all very cheap, too. Not as cheap as back then, unfortunately, but in between a McDonald’s tab and an Applebee’s tab.

One of the reasons that Aquagirl loves this place is that it’s the only place we know of that serves a ‘chocolate coke.’ Everybody else thought it sounded gross, but she insists that it is awesome!

We were able to bring a bunch of tables together to fit our whole clan. I wish this picture showed more of the atmosphere.

Uncle G is fixated with the tabletop jukeboxes. He kept playing Elvis songs, and ‘Diana.’ My kids go more for the Beach Boys and the Monkeys. The music in the jukeboxes ranged from Frankie Valley all the way to Madonna….LOL!

Anyway, it was a fun night, which we capped off with a trip to the movie theater to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. This was an extremely funny movie, btw, with lots of cute music.

So, congratulations Aquagirl! Keep up the good work.

This is our gingerbread house for this year.

…….but Jabem got a wild idea to cook dinner tonight. And really, who am I to argue? Do I even care if it’s edible?…. Not really, no. I’m thrilled that someone stepped up to the plate and asked!

If you ask me, and you didn’t, but I’ll tell you anyway, I thought he looked quite adorable cooking. At one point he said, “Geez, Mom, if you’re gonna take pictures, can’t you wait till I’m working on the meat? It’s a bit more manly.”

Doesn’t he look like a natural? It’s not like he’s a total novice, but he doesn’t cook much. He likes to make Mexican foods, like quesadillas and burritos. Tonight he decided to cook from a different part of the world; Japanese food. He loves when we go to Japanese Steak houses. And this is his favorite entree, steak and shrimp.

This is his finished product. Looks pretty tasty, doesn’t it? Betcha wish you’d eaten here tonight.

See what Jabem surprised us with today? YUMMM!!!

Ok, yeah, we’ve been into it a bit, but how can you resist?
Be prepared, I will, over the next little while, be putting on weight. Dunkin’ Donuts has moved into our town….. It will be a sacrifice on my part, but we must patronize local businesses, right?