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"Meet the Bettlers"
Yeah, it was time.
Annie wanted to bring Danny to Kentucky, to meet her parents.
Danny wanted to take his new Lexus on a nice long trip.
So they both took a couple of days off from work,
and headed north...
Big Owl, waiting with his camera, catches their arrival.
Big Owl, still clutching camera, takes their picture.
Danny's first test—Azzie (he passed).
Second test—lunch in Kentucky (he survived).
Third test—Mom gets home from work (Mom survived).
Fourth test—Dad (not in good mood).
Fifth test—ping pong (Danny won).
Annie ran into old fellow swim team member Jennifer Janssen,
while waiting for table at Arlington.
(This was not a test for Danny.)
Sixth test—dinner on the sun porch at Arlington (everyone survived).
Seventh test—posing for picture in front of Arlington
(this was easy for Danny).
Eighth test—posing for picture with Arlington golf course
in background (also easy).
Ninth test—Christopher (no problem).
Betsy and Susan came over for dinner, and to meet Danny.
Leigh and Robbie came, too.
Big Owl took a picture of all four children.
(This has nothing to do with Danny.)
Tenth test—Betsy tries to test Danny with the old
"hands above the table" trick (it didn't work).
Eleventh test—while Betsy, Annie, and Kathie distract him,
Susan examines copies of Danny's professional work (excellent).
Because of an unfortunate earlier incident involving Betsy,
Azzie was confined to his pet carrier for the evening.
(It had nothing to do with Danny.)
Kathie made a special cake for dessert.
Because of an unfortunate earlier incident involving Betsy,
she was suspicious.
(It also had nothing to do with Danny.)
As it turned out, the cake was excellent.
Relieved, Kathie decides to try some for herself.
(This has nothing to do with Danny.)
Twelfth test—posing for a picture at Christopher's apartment.
Big Owl thought the colors, blue to white to blue, were interesting.
Danny handled the whole thing well.
Thirteenth test—the French restaurant (so far so good).
Kathie loves to eat snails.
Good thing that wasn't part of the restaurant test for Danny.
With their vast oenological knowledge,
Christopher and Carrie chose the wine for the French dinner.
They picked a Saint-Emilion, Big Owl's favorite.
This was not part of the restaurant test for Danny (he drank Coke).
Big Owl poses with Kathie and the bottle of Saint-Emilion.
Actually, the whole French restaurant thing
was in honor of Big Owl's and Kathie's wedding anniversary.
But it was not a part of the restaurant test for Danny.
Fourteenth test—would Danny still like Annie,
even after he found out she sometimes ate French food?
(The answer was yes.)
Fifteenth test—would Danny actually eat French food?
The answer was yes.
Kathie, Christopher, Carrie, and Big Owl also ate French food.
They wanted to make Danny feel better about the whole thing.
Big Owl spoke French with the French restaurant owner.
He said Big Owl spoke French "almost" like a real Frenchman.
Big Owl told him his restaurant was "almost" like a real French restaurant.
This was not part of the restaurant test for Danny.
Big owl congratulates Annie after the French dinner.
As you have seen, Danny passed all the tests, no problem.
The following people agreed that they all liked Danny a lot—
Big Owl, Kathie, Christopher, Carrie, Susan, Betsy, Leigh, Robbie, Azrael,
and Annie.
After dinner, everyone went to Graeter's to celebrate
by eating American ice cream.
This was not a test for Danny.
He already passed.
Danny, nous savons maintenant que tu aimes manger "épicé"...
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