Dining out

Eating out with two kids is not my favorite thing to do. First of all the restaurant selection is limited because I am not going to torture parents who have managed to ditch their kids for the night with having to sit behind my kids. Secondly, I always end up with food on my clothes. This is not food I have spilt on myself, it is food from a kid.
Neither Addi or Lucas have their picture plastered at a restaurant below the words, entry denied. Although there was that one dining episode with Addi last summer where I wanted to crawl under the table. Yeah, the one where she puked all over the table for no given reason. Instead I opted for running to the bathroom and then Jeremy opted for the car so I could box up my dinner. Other than that neither of them are so bad in my opinion that we should limit our experiences to establishments that have drive thu windows attached.
Tonight Grandma Jo and I took both kids to Longhorn Steakhouse. Lucas spent a good 15 minutes getting ready to go. He looked quite spiffy I must say. Addi spent that same 15 minutes yelling up the stairs that she was ssssturving (aka starving) I choose to remain silent as I was simply impressed he cared enough to wear something beside athletic shorts to dinner. Jeremy was still working his heart out in Topeka. One day vacation will be easy for him.
There are certain downfalls to eating with a 2 year old. One of those if the fact they fill up much faster than you ever could. That happened tonight. Addi was done and I had just begun to make a dent in my steak. She was able to entertain herself in the booth and then the waitress brought us a box for our food. The other issue is she has to dip everything. This means you must check your tables ketchup bottle to ensure you are not going to run empty during your meal. Man can that send a dip freak into outer space. There is the dreaded wait between your order time and food arrival time. Addi gets restless and Lucas thinks you are up to something with all your questions to prevent him from getting himself into trouble. He will talk his head off until you ask him a question at a restaurant then all you are going to get is one word answers. Then there are the trips to the bathroom. Addi knows that if she says she has to potty then we go, no questions asked. She has learned from her brother that no public restroom should go unexplored. I am very sympathetic to this as I can remember dining out with my grandparents and just having to see what their bathrooms looked like. It never entered my mind to actually use it until about my third trip in there. Addi has to make at least 2 trips and Lucas averages about 3. It pretty much seals the deal that one adult could not take them somewhere as the waiter would think you had skipped out on the bill.
A couple trips to the bathroom later Addi began to fill her box with every piece of remaining food. I wanted to stop her, after all we leave town tomorrow and really who wants left over fries. I decided to enjoy the continued "eating" time. Addi happily lifted her clean plate to the waitress. Lucas ate half his steak (it was so huge I should have ordered off the kids menu) we paid and left. Lucas holding the door for everyone.
I don't know if it is the Longhorn luck that we had such a wonderful meal or if it is a sign that the kids are getting older. Either way I am enjoying it 100%.

Cheers! Here's to your next dining experience being as wonderful as ours!