Family Thursdays

We're trying to institute a new tradition here: spending our Thursday mornings together doing something as a family. Something that isn't what we do most mornings together -- eat breakfast one-by-one, putz around the house, workout at home while Luke spins in circles pretending to exercise, playing random games Luke invents, taking care of chores, paying bills, returning emails, surfing online, etc. Some of it might be defined as "quality time together" but certainly not all of it. So the new goal is to try and get a few hours of good quality time doing something together each Thursday.

I hope a lot of those Thursdays wind up looking like today.

We did brunch. I heart brunch big time. And we tried a new place -- Mae's in Ferndale.

I feel like I'm the last person under the sun to try Mae's. Now I see why. First of all, it's adorable. Very vintage charming. Faygo stickers, old black and white photos, turquoise vinyl, mismatched salt and pepper shakers, water carafes on the table to greet you, thrift store cups.

 Isn't it sweet?

Of course, who cares if it is cute if the food blows? Alas, it did not blow.

 Gypsy omelet with red peppers, mushrooms and shaved parmesan. Awesome. And the multi-grain bread was the prefect kind of chewy.

Mae's also specializes in fantastic soups and baked goods. That's actually one thing that drew me in -- I kept seeing their soups and baked-goods-of-the-day on Twitter. Then I'd walk around the rest of the day with drool on my chin. If you can't read it, one of the soups is Dill Pickle Potato. Unique, right?

We left with two of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! Pretty sure the secret ingredient in them is coffee. They're delish.

It was lovely.  I wish it had been warmer so afterward we could have gone for a walk or to a park or something. Hurry up, Michigan, warm up! But still, lovely, and I'm excited to see what the new tradition brings us.

Do you have a designated "family time" each week? What do you do with that time typically? I'm trying to gather some ideas for our future Thursdays together. I'd love to hear yours so please, do share!

Pssst: Very cool giveaway happening on the blog Gwenny Penny for a blog redesign from Simply Klassic Blog Design! Go enter, but please, let me win, OK?