Due to a variety of reasons, Ted and I, Kathy and Annette, and Kari’s family were unable to get together for our “birthday season” celebration until June 24.  Part of the delay was due to my TKR.  Although my physical progress was rapid, I didn’t have enough energy to tolerate a seven-hour excursion—three hours of driving, plus party time—until then.

Our family celebrates six birthdays in only a few short weeks, so we usually make it a group event.  Mother’s Day falls in that time frame too and, because we celebrated so late this year, we added Father’s Day to the party.  We chose Columbia, MO as our party place.  Annette’s son lives in Columbia and his birthday fell two days after the party, so we celebrated his birthday too.  There were a lot of gifts to be opened! 

Because the weather was very hot (heat index of 105 degrees), we scratched the plan for a picnic in a park like we did for the solar eclipse and met indoors at Shakespeare’s Pizza.  Shakespeare’s has a quirky attitude.  For example, here’s Shakespeare.

This Shakespeare’s location is across the street from the Mizzou campus and has a sign telling patrons “This isn’t the dorm.  You don’t have to bus your own table.”  It’s a very large restaurant with several dining rooms.  Rather than repeatedly giving directions to the rest rooms, the floor literally has an inlaid yellow brick path that will take you from any dining room to the rest rooms—just “follow the yellow brick road.” 

Signage is fun to read.  Here’s the parking lot sign.

This is the back of a Shakespeare’s gift card holder.

And here’s a beverage cup.  Notice how the location of Shakespeare’s is described.  On the other side of the cup, one of the restaurant’s other locations is described in terms of latitude and longitude.

There used to be a red light and a bell above the rest room doors with a sign that said, “Did not wash hands.”  I don’t know if it was in working order, but who would want to take that chance?

Back to our party. . . .  June 24 was a Monday, and we met for lunch, so the restaurant was deserted.  We picked a dining room that was vacant and had a long table that would seat all nine of us.  When we finished eating, we stacked all of our dishes on a vacant table (that doesn’t really count as bussing our table, does it?) and got down to the business of opening gifts and catching up with each other.

Soon (four hours after we arrived, but the time flew by) it was time for all of us to think about heading for home, but first, . . . Blue Stem and the Candy Factory were only a few blocks away.  Blue Stem, our first stop, has a constantly changing display of work by Missouri artists, and Ted and I are looking for wall hangings.  We didn’t find anything we wanted, so we all headed for the Candy Factory, which makes its own chocolate.  After checking all the displays and making our selections we left with fresh chocolate candies in bags.  Then Ted and I headed for our car, but some of the others went a few more blocks to the Peace Nook, another favorite family stop in Columbia. The air-conditioned, nearly-empty restaurant and the large table were a good lunch choice; the company, conversation, and gifts were all delightful; and we all went home happy.  It’s so good to celebrate things as a family.  ❤