A Fous Fete!

For Valentine's Day my friend Julie shared an idea about doing a mystery dinner. She got her idea here. Fun stuff. So, of course, I had to steal the idea, but I didn't want to wait till next February! I decided to do mine for April Fool's Day, since I never think any good jokes to play. I'm just not a funny person...I'm horrible at lying...a little silly is about as good as it gets from me. Silly on April Fool's Day is good, too, right? This might actually be the most elaborate silly thing I've ever pulled off {I know...I'm pathetic.}

Anyway, here's how it went down:  I put the menu in French {A "Fous Fete" is French for A Fool's Feast} and had the everyone choose what they wanted for each of four courses. They even had to order their utensils. I told them they should choose at least two items for each course, and could order something more than once...or not at all....whatever they wanted.

I worried a bit about how the kids {mostly Ethan} would do with this, and prayed throughout the day that it would just be a fun experience. They are very particular about how they like their food and "hiccups" in the routine don't typically go over so well {and I fully admit I'm the one who has made them that way}. Everyone did great...except Ethan. He was a turd about not knowing what he was picking...and trying to guess what everything was and write down his choices in English. He finally gave in and filled out a menu the way he was supposed to, but wasn't thrilled about the whole thing. Karis had fun choosing her items and helping Levi with his menu, too. 

The laughter and fun overshadowed the few complaints. Everything went really fast {you were so right, Julie!}, so it was hard to get good pictures. Karis ended up ordering soda, cool whip with sprinkles and cookie for her first course...she had to lick her cool whip off the plate since she didn't order a fork or spoon! Levi had noodles, but nothing to eat those with either. We were especially proud of Natalie, who watched all her siblings get Sprite at some point throughout the meal {a special treat in our house}, but didn't once ask where hers was...and of course I rewarded her patience before she left the table. We'll definitely do it again...Lord knows our kids need pushed out of their comfort zones more often.