What'll Ya Have, Pal?

photo by Randy Flowerday

After having our family portrait taken by Olan Mills for the church directory (and $200+ of additional prints we ordered - arrgh!), we took the kiddos for dinner at our favorite diner. We go there at least once a week, often even more. They have great food at reasonable prices, in a really cool atmosphere.

Pal's Diner in Cascade, MI, was purchased in New Jersey by owners Sam and Barry Brown and hauled, at great trouble and expense, to its current home in Michigan. It's a family-run diner, with table or counter service. It gets overlooked by diner aficionados, who tend to focus on Rosie's Diner in Rockford (the diner used in those Bounty commercials). Pal's is smaller than Rosie's, but we feel the food and service are much superior. And the prices - oh my! Pal's is one of Grand Rapids' best bargains.

Here's us, hanging out at Pal's on a Monday night:

Mommy and David, mugging for the camera
(no, I don't know what that is on my right boob)

Matthew holding sleeping Sabrina

As you can see, Pal's has a great pink and chrome color scheme. It's really kitschy cool. We like to sit in the curved booths at either front corner. Matt is tucked into the curve here, while holding the Bee.

It's ME - in pictures!

I am almost never in the pictures I post, because I take 99/100 pictures in my family.Here's a couple that I am in, because someone else took them. They are from our day out at the zoo a few weeks ago.

Me with some of "the girls" (I'm third from the left):



Sabrina and me in the budgie pen:

At the Zoo

We spent last Thursday at the zoo with my mom's group from church. Sabrina had a blast; David was mostly bored, except playing the wooden train play set and checking out the wallabies. He LOVED the wallabies:



Sabrina, as usual, liked EVERYTHING. Here she is feeding budgies:

Sabrina and her buddy Rhea enjoyed chasing a turkey around. Some of the adults were a little freaked out by the turkey, but not the 2-year-olds!

The turkey makes its escape: