This morning we had a great family outing. It was one of the rare times where our crazy schedules complemented each other perfectly, thus resulting in time together. It's a wild concept, but one that we are thankful for.

Since I had our Hope Center Christmas Party last night and Stacy has all-night call at the hospital tonight, we had all morning together. We decided to mark the occasion by going to Sophie's Deli, which is our neighborhood Polish Delicatessen. It's located at the end of our block, so it's not only good but it's also super-convenient. Plus, in our effort to make sure that our Vietnamese daughter who lives in a Hispanic neighborhood has an ever-expanding worldview, we felt it important for Elli to experience Sophie's.

What you have to understand about this place is that it is unlike most dining experiences. It's located in this small, red warehouse looking building that bears little resemblance to most eateries. It's only open for breakfast and lunch, because most of the people who work there are family. They are never open on the weekends, so our opportunities to have breakfast there as a family are limited. Nonetheless, it holds a certain place of fondness in our hearts. It was decided long ago that Stacy's graduation party this spring will be at least partially catered by Sophie's.

All that being said, the experience lived up to expectations today. The waitress still remembered us. Multiple people came out from the kitchen to greet Elli and let us know how cute she is. My pancakes and bacon were great, and Stacy's polish sausage and egg breakfast sandwich was wonderful. The best part about the whole thing was that when we left, all three of us had the very distinctive and yet nostalgic Sophie's Smell.

Fair Dinkum