We Went Out to Eat Last Night

Last night we decided to go out to eat after church.  We decided to go to Bob Evans and hoped that our late night trip would lead to it not being crowded and being seated quickly.  That was a success and we pulled in to a mostly empty parking lot.

As we started to unload the kids, I noticed that there were employees staring quite worriedly at us.  I had to chuckle at the worry on their faces.  If they had known all the "diagnoses" then they would have just slipped quietly out the back door!  I always wonder how fast people would retreat if they knew all the labels.  I mean, just the sight of all of those kids (knowing nothing more) unloading the van caused their blood pressure to rise!

We went in and they ask "How many?" while employees still peeked around the corner.  I had to laugh inside.  I told them "15" and you could see them look around like "nope we weren't hallucinating there really are that many".   They started to move together tables for us, but I let them know that there was no need to move things around.  We can just as easily sit at 4 tables as we can at one long one! 

Things went so smoothly.  My kids are REALLY good in public and especially out to eat.  We had drink orders ready to give immediately.  I had two kids who ordered for themselves (Dayton and Denzell) and I ordered the rest.  (I was letting others order for themselves, but recently they showed that they couldn't handle it and ate until all the food was gone on the big meal and I had vomit to clean up.)  I keep the meals uniform to make it simpler for the waitress and also because if we were home everyone would be eating the same thing anyway.

They brought out the food and everyone was served quickly.  I had ordered extra onion petals that I walked around and handed out.  There were no spills (though I thought Brent was going to spill someone's drink a couple times!).  The kids ate quietly and neatly.  The talking at the tables was low and no one got out of their seats.

The kids really enjoyed hearing the employees that dreaded us so bad comment over and over on their good behavior.  They laughed when we got to the vehicle about all the compliments to Brent and I about what a good job we must be doing.  When we were checking out and they were still complimenting the kids' behavior, I said "I saw your looks of dread when we came in.".  The lady replied with "Yes, but that was BEFORE we knew you and now we WANT you to come back". 

Yes, I was very proud of my crew!  I hope we changed some view points.  Maybe next time they see a large group of kids coming in, they will remember that children can be respectful, calm, and enjoyable.  :)

And for your viewing pleasure cause she really is THAT CUTE: