The babiest of baby steps

Now that the boys are the ripe old age of 11, they had asked for lots of freedom to be able to do things on their own, unsupervised by their parents -- go to the arcade, the beach, rent a surrey, etc.   Leslie and I, along with the dads, had discussed in advance (without their knowledge), what we'd be comfortable allowing them to do on their own. One thing we agreed to was going to Uncle Bill's for breakfast -- completely on their own!   This is HUGE!  First time going to a restaurant and being responsible for every aspect of the process; getting a table, ordering, paying the bill and leaving an appropriate tip.

Our house was as close to Uncle Bill's as you could get.  The boys were super excited about being able to get breakfast on their own.  We spoke with them the night before and quizzed them on how much tip they should leave based on different amounts the check could be.

When it was time for them to go, I stood out on our porch and watched the boys cross the street and walk into the restaurant.  I texted Leslie and wrote, "I have confirmation that the boys went into the restaurant."   One minute later Ian texted me with "Mom we made it."   Seriously, how adorable is that?

Here's the funniest part of the story...Leslie's parents had spent the night at her beach house and decided to go to Uncle Bill's for breakfast.  Meanwhile, my mom & Jim decided to go to Uncle Bill's too for breakfast.  Neither set of grandparents realizing the other set was going to be there.  Uncle Bill's is a pretty big restaurant and wouldn't you know, Both Mom/Jim and Uncle Bernard/Aunt Beth got seated not too far away from where Ian and Max were.   The boys were surrounded by their grandparents!

Uncle Bill's has ridiculously oversized portions.  One of the best things about this place is ordering breakfast on one day and having leftovers for the next 2 days.  Yum!  The boys decided to split an order of cinnamon roll pancakes. As reported by my Aunt who had a clear view, instead of putting the pancakes on two plates, they just ate from the same plate. This must've been adorable to see in action. 

I couldn't take it any longer and had to go in and shoot a picture of the two of them, without them seeing me.

These boys are just too cute!   This was the babiest of baby steps in terms of independence and getting some freedom.  I was able to watch them walk into the restaurant.  And, they were surrounded by not one, but two sets of grandparents!  hehehehee.

The boys were giddy with the how great it went and wanted to go on the boardwalk to get lunch.  Ha!  Not likely.  We said this was it for this week and we can discuss what you can do next summer in another year.