Ghiradelli Chocolate And Quiet Time

Dinner went swimmingly tonight!  We went to Trattoria Paradisio on Cannery Row.  For the kids I ordered the homemade cheese ravioli with olive oil and parmesan instead of the marinara sauce.  I also ordered shrimp grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper for them on the side.  The restaurant made their own bread as well, and if it is rustic French or Italian bread it is typically safe for us.  Homemade bread is usually free of preservatives, and the rustic type is free of pan spray since it's allowed to cook free form.  So the kids were able to eat the bread tonight too.

Dinner was so nice and calm.  I have to remind myself sometimes how it used to be before our diet changes.  We used to think it was normal to have to keep our kids occupied every minute, stop them from banging their silverware, quiet them from being too loud or screaming - yeah, we were THOSE people.  The people you wondered why they would EVER take their kids to a restaurant.  I'd bring bags full of things to do:  coloring books, games, books to read, toys. 

Tonight the kids drew pictures on the paper tablecloth and wrote notes.  Here is Ben's:

Here is Lia's (can't seem to get it turned right side up):

After dinner we treated the kids to a Monterey Bay stuffed animal (read:  overpriced souvenir) and a trip to Ghiradelli Chocolate.  You may not know this, but Ghiradelli offers chocolates with no artificial colors or flavors.  The Milk Chocolate is one of those, as well as a few of their other varieties.  (Note:  not all their chocolates are free of artificials or preservatives, so buyer beware!)  We had hoped the kids could eat Ghiradelli ice cream, and the store was more than happy to show me the ingredients list.  The list boasted "All Natural Flavors" but right there at the bottom was Yellow #5 and other artificial colors.  Why in the world would you need yellow artificial color in vanilla ice cream?  Crazy!  So we let the kids pick a few of the natural chocolate candies.  Ben was in heaven.  But wouldn't you know it, my lima-bean-eating daughter didn't like chocolate. 

We know that chocolate, even when all natural, can be a trigger for emotional and irrational behavior for Ben if he has it too many days in a row.  But we've never let him have a bunch in one sitting before.  So we have been waiting all night for the reaction to take place.  Right now, the kids are laying in their beds watching a movie, and all is quiet.  Maybe we've figured out a chocolate binge in one sitting is just fine!