A Night To Remember....

On Monday, Mr. Kolb asked me out on a birthday dinner date to my favorite restaurant, Minerva's. He gave me the option of going with just him or bringing our three little duckies along. As nice as it is to have dinner just the two of us, I knew how excited the girls would be to get dressed up and go out for a "fancy" dinner. They are fancy ladies in training,after all, and I figured this would be good practice for them.

It probably goes without saying that we all have been looking forward to our "hot date" since the invitation and were thrilled the big day was here. The girls picked out their best evening wear and they all wanted their hair curled. Finally, we were properly attired, spruced up and most importantly, hungry. We hopped in the sweet ride and away we went.......

Minerva's is located downtown and smack dab in the middle of the Sculpture Walk route. The SW is one of the girls' favorite summer activities and desperately wanted to take advantage of the lovely evening and satisfy their inner cultured souls. One quick photo op and a promise to check out the rest of the offerings after our meal we continued on, anxious to not be late for our reservation.

There were plenty of oooohhh's and aaaahhh's immediately upon entering the fine dining establishment. Ella thought, "This sofa is very pretty." and was thrilled to pose with her two besties.
After perusing the menu and making our selections (steak for Jason and I, chicken and broccoli~of course~for Lily, a cheeseburger and smiley fries for Ella and the scrumptious salad bar for Grace....in case there are any inquiring minds in the crowd), we sat back an enjoyed the lovely and ultra fancy atmosphere. The girls just couldn't believe how beautiful everything was and Grace noticed that "even the people here are fancy". She also decided that unlike Fryn' Pan, it probably would not be OK to show up for dinner in your swimming suit. Our food was delish, as expected and I ate my weight in crackers and cheese spread. The YaYa sisters could not have been better behaved and even garnered a compliment from a fellow patron sitting nearby who commented to Jason, "You sure have a nice looking family." to which Jason replied, "I've never seen these people before in my life". (No, he didn't really say that but it would have been a pretty funny comeback.)

A meal out on the town just wouldn't be complete without a trip to the restroom where Ella quickly discovered that even fancy people have to poop as evidenced by some remnants she stumbled upon. Yikes.

One last photo session on the "beautiful sofa" and it was time to take our promised Sculpture Walk.

The girls were in a most photogenic mood and wanted me to take their pictures by virtually every sculpture along the path, a request I was more than happy to oblige. So without further ado, please enjoy the Kolb version of the Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk......

(Notice Lily the creeper in the background.....)

(This sculpture was titled "Gossip" which I imagine these three will do much of in the upcoming years....)

As we were walking from our car to the restaurant and I was already taking pictures, Grace inquired, "Mom, are you going to put these pictures on the blog?". Obviously, we all know the answer that and when I told her I was going to, she suggested a title that after the evening is complete and the girls are snuggled up in their beds, I know is perfect..."A Night To Remember".