Cow Appreciation Day

We love, love, love Chick-fil-A! Not only is the food excellent, but you have got to appreciate the speedy and polite service. Have you ever read S.Truett Cathy's books about how he started Chick-fil-A and turned it into an amazingly successful franchise? Tex just finished reading How Did You Do It, Truett? and says he really learned a lot from it about how Mr. Cathy was able to build his successful business with a combination of hard work, faith, and help from many people. He's going to read Eat More Ckikin: Inspire More People next, about how Mr. Cathy's commitment to his Christian principles has helped him achieve both personal and spiritual prosperity. I particularly like his book It's Better to Build Boys Than to Mend Men. It's a wonderful collection of stories from Mr. Cathy's experiences as a father, foster parent, and grandfather that show why it is so important to be a positive influence and example in the lives of all children, especially boys.

Let's get mooooo-vin', Mommy!!

On our way to Chick-fil-A...Yes, that is a Dalmatian costume that Firefly is wearing,

but it has cow ears and a cow tail. Sometimes you have to make do with what you have...

She moo-ed just like a cow when we placed our order!

In any case, I am a fan of Chick-fil-A all through the year, but especially at that time of year when Cow Appreciation Day rolls around. That's when we head over to our local store in cow costumes and snag one complete FREE MEAL per person...anything off the menu...just for dressing from head to hooves as a cow! (You can score a free sandwich for simply donning a sign or ears or any other part of a cow costume). It's amazing. This year I decked out the kids, except for poor Tex, who was feeling under the weather, and they each got a six-piece kids' meal for FREE! and I got my usual upsized Number One (the original sandwich), no pickle. (Boring, I know, but it is my favorite).

They rang the cowbell when we walked through the door and said, "Here comes a whole herd of cows!"

And yes, I am in all black, no spots. I told them that I was an Angus.

The kids powered through their delicious meals (and nutritious, since we were able to swap sodas and waffle fries for milk and fresh fruit), then spent an hour and a half burning off their energy by playing with some sweet children in the clean, new playland at our nearly new local Chick-fil-A. Boy, were they all loud. But they had a blast, especially since the oppressive heat, and frequent rain, had been keeping them from playing outside at home the way they usually would have. Even Boo held his own, trying to go up the slide and chasing others when he was tagged as "IT" in a game of tag. I was pleased at how all the children were such good sports and played so well with the littlest ones. Something good about Chick-fil-A seems to rub off on everyone's kids whenever they are there.

Here is the girl cow that Boo was so fond of...isn't she sweet?

The funniest thing of all was Boo, who was so friendly to everyone...it was positively adorable. He ran around grinning in his little cow costume, hugging anyone he came across who looked open to it (with me nearby, of course), especially the employee who was wearing the girl cow costume. He kept looking for her every time he took a break from playing, and would run up and give her a big cow hug around the knees. She learned to look for him if she came near our table, and thoughtfully brought all the kids balloons before we left.

They are lovin' that Ice Dream...now minus spots, ears, and tails.

As a final treat, before we left, the kids decided that they'd rather have ice cream than the kids' meal toy (which was a book, but we already had copies of those titles). I love how Chick-fil-A always has quality kids' meal prizes like audio stories or books, instead of useless plastic movie junk, and how they let you trade the toy for ice cream, if you already have one. So each of the kids got an Ice Dream cone which they devoured with gusto and pure enjoyment. I bought a cup of Ice Dream drenched in chocolate syrup for myself (my ONE purchase of the day!) which I also devoured with gusto. YUM! This is definitely going to continue to be an annual outing for us.

If you haven't heard Tim Hawkins sing his Chick-fil-A song, you need to check it out. It's a hoot.

Blessings,