A Dining We Will Go

So last night we loaded up the fam and headed out to one of those exotic places we don't get to go to very often - a restaurant WITHOUT a drive thru! You already know that if I am taking the time to blog about this experience that it must be good! I had a hankering for Smoked Sirloin so Texas Land and Cattle it was - not Ruth's Chris, but no drive thru either - somewhere perfectly acceptable to take in small children. Maisie had her first experience of sitting in a germy, nasty, public high chair (yuck) - I do own one of those things you put in the shopping cart and high chairs, but had failed to load it into the car. Actually I really hadn't planned on releasing her from her bucket seat until I recalled that the last time I fed her in the bucket seat she proceeded to pull an exorcist like moment and barf all over the place. So, the germy, nasty, public high chair it was (yuck). I had already given her some delectable treat from a jar and she was happily just sitting there playing with various things - a couple of toys I had brought, my sunglasses, the packets of Equal - hey whatever keeps her happy and allows me the opportunity to eat. I had a baked sweet potato with my dinner, which Maisie was eye balling (she LOVES sweet potatoes) so I figured I would let her have some of it too. She did alright on the first little bite, but I guess being that when a sweet potato comes straight from the skin it is not nearly as runny as those that come out of the jars. On her second bite she got choked up and I'll be damned if we didn't relive that whole exorcist moment! Barf went everywhere! And I was quick too, I saw it coming and put my napkin up to catch it, but it still went all over her and the floor below - I'm sure the poor man dining at the table directly behind us could have gone all year without that visual! Regardless, we got her and the floor cleaned up and continued on with our dinner. Now by this point Hunter was through with his dinner and had moved himself over to be closer to Maisie - she loves Hunter and likes to "talk" to him - you know how babies talk, it's not like they have a volume control. Scott informed Maisie she needed to shush or we were leaving - yeah, I'm sure that registered with her! I reminded him that she is 8 months old. Well, she continued to defy daddy's order and kept on talking - now it's not like the kid is screaming, she was squealing with delight, and again we were in a family restaurant. This just did Scott it - he jumps up and removes Maisie from the high chair to go and set her in his lap so she would be quiet. I told him he was being ridiculous and he informed me that people were looking. I said I don't care - she is 8 months old and she is talking, not screaming. I would NEVER in a million years allow my kids to sit in any kind of a restaurant, McDonald's included, and scream or run around like little apes, I would get up and take them outside or just have my dinner boxed up and leave (which I will add that we have done before with Hunter). A baby squealing with delight however I don't think constitutes offensive (which did not stop just because he removed her from the high chair). We were just about finished at this point so Scott inhaled what was left on his plate (now he knows how I feel) and decided that he would take the kids outside while I paid. As he was reaching across the table to get Hunter's glass of milk he sends it flying off the edge where it landed on the floor and exploded - did I mention that a family had just sat down at the table it exploded next to? Amazingly the cup was in an upright position, the lid had just popped off, so the mess wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. After Scott apologized to this family, and to the busboy who came out to clean up the mess, he decided that it was REALLY time to get moving towards the outside. As soon as he got up and started walking away from me Maisie started to scream (did I also mention she is a MAJOR mama's girl and appears to have some separation anxiety going on?). No that kind of noise is annoying and disruptive, that I will give him. By the time I paid and made it outside, Maisie was still screaming and Hunter had poked himself with a cactus and was moaning about that. He informed me that he needed me to buckle his seat belt because the hand he had poked with the cactus is the one he uses to buckle up with. When we got home I told him to let me look at it and it looked odd - a purple / red ring was around his finger. I squeezed his finger and he kind of grunted and then I touched somewhere and he jerked his finger away and started to cry. It was at that point I realized that the cactus was still stuck in his finger - no wonder it hurt! After a minor surgical procedure he was good as new and in the tub he went. All in all it was an exhausting dinner out - no wonder we don't do that real often - the beauty of the drive thru is becoming oh so clear!