Barley's Ale House 1

When Tony travels for work, the kids and I usually order pizza and have a picnic on the living floor in front of the television. Tony recently went to Denver for a couple of days and we decided to switch it up a little. We went to Barley's (which happens to be one of Tony's favorite restaurants - and he was a little bitter when we told him about the dinner). We had a pile of nachos as big as my head. That is saying a lot because I have a giant noggin. Ian had chicken fingers, I had pierogies, and Connor had chicken wings. The wings were too spicy for him, so he then ordered some fries. Barley's fries are awesome. They are batter dipped and then fried. All and all, a great meal. It's a shame that Tony missed it...

The Franklin County Fair - 7.24.2009

Connor and Ian on the Scrambler

Ian throwing gang signs. The west side is the best side!

$48 in unlimited ride wrist bands.

Tony and Connor on the Super Shot.

The grilled chicken pita that I ordered. I didn't know what to do when the server asked what kind of dressing that I wanted on my pita because they didn't have anything spicy. In a moment of confusion, I asked for Italian dressing. Big mistake. It ruined the whole damn pita. I ate half of it before I gave up and threw the rest away.


Fair fries with extra vinegar and salt. Tony and each had an order of these. Tony actually stood by the condiment table and ate his so that he could re-salt and re-vinegar when he was half way through his fries.






Turkey legs! We didn't eat any turkey legs, but they really deserved to be photographic and posted on the world wide webs for all to see.







Carmel apple









Connor played this game several times on Wednesday when my dad took the kids to the fair. He came close to knocking all of the blocks off of the table with a baseball (the objective) but couldn't quite beat it. We tried again on Friday. I even made the guy stay the blocks in a different order before Connor's second try, just to make sure that the bottom one was weighted or bolted down. No go. Connor still couldn't beat it.

Spring Break Day 3 - Trip to Ten Pin Bowley Alley 3.25.2009

My kids are maniacs at home but are *always* very well behaved at school. Like most elementary schools, theirs uses a color system to track good and not-so-good behavior. My kids are always on Green, the color for good behavior. They've never once been on a orange, red, or blue warning. As a result of their good behavior at school, they each earned a gift certificate for a free hour of bowling at Ten Pin Alley & Spikes in Hilliard. I figured that since it was raining today, bowling would be a good way for them to burn off some energy. Although they are well behaved at school, they are raving lunatics at home so I need all the help I can get in keeping them entertained and occupied. Ten Pin Alley is really nice bowling alley - clean, nice lanes, and great food. They even have an executive chef, unlike every other bowling alley in Columbus.

Let's start with a picture of Ian. He doesn't so much roll his bowling ball as he throws it as far as he can and it slowly makes its way to the pins. His technique is unusual but effective. He got a strike today! Here he is in celebration mode as he does a victory dance and sings "Yeah, Ian! Go, Ian!"




Here's Connor. Don't let this picture fool you, he's actually a very cute kid. He got a few spares but spent the entire time being pissy because his brother got a strike and he didn't.


Now... The food! I really like the pizza at Ten Pin. They use fresh dough, good cheese, and good sauce. Ian ordered chicken fingers and fries and took one bite and refused to touch them again. Connor ate the fries and Shadow (my dog) had the chicken when we got home. Unfortunately, it was a little too early to have a beer. Equally as unfortunate was the fact that I couldn't bowl. I love bowling but I highly suspect that bowling is what caused me to slip a couple of discs that I had to have surgically correct 2 months ago... So, now more bowling for me. But the kids had a blast!

Dinner Out 3.21.2009

I have no idea what my kids ate for lunch or dinner last night. They spent the afternoon and the night at my grandmother's house. They probably ate popsicles and Doritos all day. That's fine with me so long as I they are all in one piece and free of broken bones and stitches when I pick them up later today.

Tony and I decided to go to My Big Fat Greek Kuzina for dinner last night. Tony's not a fan of "ethnic" foods (Greek, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, etc.), so I was really surprised when he actually suggested eating here. The food was great. And cheap!


Leave it to Tony to go to a Greek restaurant and order a Ceasar salad. He said that it was the best Ceasar salad that he had ever had. I tasted a couple bites and it was really good. The dressing tasted homemade and was heavy on the anchoives. Yummy!


The menu at this place is huge and everything sounded good. I was trying to stick to something that was remotely reasonable in Weight Watchers points (i.e. high in fiber and high in protien), so I ordered falafel on a bed of lettuce with hummus on the side. I love falafel and hummus. There is nothing more disappointing than having half-assed, poorly prepared, or bland hummus or falafel. Okay, there are plenty of things more disappointing than bad falafel and hummus - but for the purposes of this post... You know what I mean. Anyway, both were fabulous and rich in flavor.


Tony surprised me again but ordering a Lamb gyro. After 9 years of marriage, I had no idea that he liked lamb. He also got french fries covered in feta cheese and some sort of yogurt based sauce. I tried bites of both and they were both great.


More good stuff... BEER! I don't drink beer very often but a good draft beer seemed to fit the meal. I started with a draft Stella and then had a bottled Efes Dark. Efes is a Turkish beer. It's dark, but easy to drink with just enough bite. I think that Tony had a Blue Moon draft beer.