"Get your hands off of my corn fritters!"

The closest thing my family usually comes to going out for dinner is bringing home a take-and-bake pizza from Papa Murphy's. So you can see why we were quite excited when my mom and dad informed us earlier this month that they wanted to take us all out for dinner before the girls left for school. We decided on our favorite family restaurant, White Fence Farm, where the specialty is fried chicken served family style. They serve these delicious corn fritters that are worth the trip alone--I think John ate at least three dozen single-handedly.

Our waiter Ray was sweet to bring us an extra bowlful to take home for breakfast. He told us about one time when he was clearing someones table, he began to reach for the near-empty bowl of corn fritters, and was taken aback when an older woman made a menacing gesture with her fork and hissed, "Keep your hands off of my corn fritters!" He has been careful ever since.

Eating at White Fence Farm, however, is about much more than just the food. The grounds are beautiful, complete with play structures, a petting zoo, gazebo, a pond with ducks, several cute gift shops, and a large indoor slide (not at all Chuck E. Cheese-y, thankfully). I enjoyed watching Sarah have so much fun and tried to pretend I was Jill and Michelle--camera around my neck--unabashedly snapping photos. At one point when Charlotte, Emily and I were taking a self portrait, I suggested that perhaps we should step out the main traffic path to avoid annoying other restaurant patrons. To this Charlotte hastily replied, "Self portraiture stops for no man!" My favorite quote from the evening.

I love this picture of Mark and Sarah sharing a secret on the duck pond bridge.

And John made me laugh when he posed as Sherlock Holmes in one of the gift shops.

Aside from feeling too full and vowing (at least until tomorrow morning) that I'll never eat again, it was a fantastic evening. Thanks, mom and dad.