We party hearty! - Part 2

My kids really pulled a fast one on me.  They kept everything about the whole weekend a secret basically and I was really curious about where we'd be eating.  When the planning first started they had asked me were there any places I especially liked and I mentioned the Carlyle and Jaleo's - maybe one or two others, I can't remember.  At some point as the party drew closer, I started really wondering about dinner and asked them if they'd at least tell me if I or any of them had eaten there before and they said no, no one had, but that it had a really good reputation.  So that was that.

So Saturday evening Chris came back to the hotel and we took two cars to dinner - me riding with him and Peggy, Cindy and Brenda in Peggy's car.  When we turned off the highway, Chris asked if I'd be willing to close my eyes til the last minute so I obliged and got to open them when we had parked in a garage.  We started walking to the restaurant and as we passed a big, plate glass window I saw "Jaleo" printed on it and litterally jumped up and down squealing!  And the fast one was that this Jaleo's was in Virginia and we had eaten a couple of times at the one in DC so, no, none of us had ever eaten at this restaurant.  It's a Spanish tapas type place where the sangria flows non-stop (at least this night it did) and the small plates of this and that just keep coming.

We got there about 7:30 and I think we finally got back to the hotel around midnight (but when we got there had to set all the clocks and watches up to 1:00 a.m.), so it was quite a night.  Way back in the early discussion stage I had suggested that Chris and January especially might want to invite a few of their friends that I have met over the years just so there would be some people for them to enjoy besides just old mom and her friends.  Turned out when we got there that 4 of Chris's friends from the DC area, and one from NYC were all there and I was so happy to see them.  Made me feel kind of special that they would take the time to join us.  And they sure made the party more lively!

So here are pictures of a wonderful evening...

Left down the table:  Megan, Scott, David, me, Brenda, Cindy.  Right up the table: Peggy, Maggie, January, Alex's (my son-in-law) arm, John and Mas.

 A better photo of that far end of the table - clockwise from the left - Peggy, Maggie (my daughter-in-law), crazy Johnny, Heather, Alex.  Coming over to Chris, me, Sophia, Brenda and Cindy.

 Chris's friends and me.  I first met Scott, Mas and Megan at a wonderful raclette party that Scott invited us to.  John and David I met when I threw a surprise 40th birthday party for Chris.

My grandkiddies with their uncle Chris.  It's always fun seeing them together.  Chris becomes a bit of a kid himself.

 As you can see...

David keeping things lively at my friends' end of the table.

And the three true blessings in my life - January, Heather, Chris.  I love you.