Look Who's Talking...

Lately, Sundays in my family have been very looooong days. There just isn't much to do up here in the great white north when it is cold, rainy and gloomy. But, it doesn't compare to Seattle's 28 days of rain-OH MY GOD! However, it does leave SD (Super Daddy) and I in a conundrum. What do you do with the kids? Boo's question for the day is always "Where are we going today?" "Where are we going?" *sigh* Me, I just want to curl up on the couch with some Sesame and Seaweed rice chips, big glass of H20 and watch my Sex and the City DVDs. Oh, the life BEFORE children....how I miss it on days like these.

Recently, I have been really missing the spontaneity that comes with life without children. Love'em like nothing else in the world, but taxi driver, my little pony player, host of the tea party, train whistler momma needs a break. A BIG break. Oh, I remember the days of dancing with friends for hours at the club. The music was intoxicating, and so were the drinks. But, it was the feeling of freedom and self expression through my body that made me feel so alive. Meeting new people over a few cocktails, perhaps picking up a game at pool, casual flirting. The atmosphere is toxic in every sense and certainly the idea of it finding a place in my life right now is sadly funny. Oh, how I miss it.

Anyway, so obviously I did not spend last Sunday on the couch reminiscing the cliche"Glory Days." SD and I took the kids to the mall to play on the giant food, then to the Rain Forest Cafe http://www.rainforestcafe.com/. If you haven't been there-Go! If you do not have one near you- try to get to one when you travel. The menu prices are bit absurd, but the atmosphere is worth it. The whole dining area is made out to look and act like a Rain Forest. There are huge salt water aquariums, large animals that move and make sounds (not too animated like Chuck E Cheese) . Snakes hang from the ceiling, elephants are herded together in one area, gorillas are up higher in the "mist of the jungle". They have rain falling from the ceiling around the outskirts of the restaurant- very realistic, especially for the younger crowd. My kids love it. We eat there every few months or so. Mostly on those long Sundays.

So, the minute we get in line at the restaurant, Gabe has this burst of language. He starts pointing at and naming ALL the animals. "Monkey"...."Oooheeeoheee" then Gabe points to the next animal, and so on. His face lights up and he yells "I see.!..I see!" pointing to the elephants as we get seated. they do a mock rain storm by having the ceiling flash lightning, a crash of thunder and the lights flicker, and the animals roar. I turn to Gabe and say "It's going to rain!" "Rain!" he says with a huge smile. Wow. He is so AWARE of what is around him. It's as if he has figured out a part of the world . He is beginning to GET IT. GABE IS GETTING IT!!!

I wonder if The Rain Forest Cafe is Gabe's dance floor. An outlet for his expression of speech. For me there was always that one song that moved my body just so to its pulse and rhythm, like I could do and be anything. Perhaps, Gabe's is a cafe filled with exotic animals that roar with the thunder.