The Melting Pot...

On Thursday night, Jennie and I celebrated our fourth anniversary! I am fortunate to have such an incredible, beautiful, and friendly wife - who laughs at everything I say. Allie is cute, but she is a distant second to Jennie, and always will be.

So we went to "The Melting Pot" restaurant up in Beechwood. This is probably our favorite restaurant of all time. They have a fondue burner at each table, and our whole meal was ours to cook! First, we had a cheese fondue (appetizer), with nacho/fiesta flavored cheeses. We dipped vegetables, bread, and tortilla chips there, and of course I added the recommended daily allowance of Tabasco. Then came the California salads, which were fare better than I had imagined. When the main course came, we could hardly believe our eyes or taste buds. A full tray of great meats (peppercorn tenderloin, chicken, salmon, steak, shrimp, and beef sat temptingly in front of us. We cooked each one in the fondue pot, and then had about 17 dipping sauces at our service. Dinner was amazing.

Dessert was not bad - a mint-chocolate fondue that was warmed up and primed for us to dip strawberries, cheesecake, brownies, and other fruits in. Totally amazing.

Truly an anniversary night out to remember. The Melting Pot can be found at www.themeltingpot.com. They have great deals and specials for anniversaries or other occasions. There's one in Cleveland (Beechwood), Columbus, and Cincinnati. I think South Bend has one too.

Mom and Dad watched Allie, but of course we called several times while we were gone. Can't get enough of that baby.

Allie has been doing great, and had a healthy doctor checkup last week, weighing in at 10 pounds, 8.5 ounces. She is starting to "coo" and seems to like to carry on that sort of conversation. It is awesome to hold her and interact with her on this basic level. We have found a way to get her smile pretty much on demand. If I hold her about 12 inches from my face, stick my tongue out, and make some silly noise, she smiles.

She smiles HUGE. And my heart melts. Love that kid.

More later on what turned out to be a pretty wild weekend for the Underwoods...