WARNING!

Never take two tired children out to dinner because you are too tired to cook at home...it will only make you more exhausted.

So the day was full of normal Saturday, family activities such as going to the library, buying stuff for the garden, watching KU beat Missouri, all the normal stuff.  It gets to be late and Mr. Chuck was still shoveling horse manure...I mean compost into the garden.  I had been dealing with a semi-screaming M&M because I wouldn't let her go outside in the blustery wind for fear of her getting an ear infection.  So, my brilliant plan was to take everyone out to eat and just be able to relax for a little bit before going to the grocery store and going home for bed.  Not so brilliant.

I somehow didn't connect that M&M's tantrums were only partly due to not being able to go outside and shove her hands in the "compost", yuck.  The other part of her tantrums wasn't realized until it was too late.  We arrived at Outback at 5:40 and it was already slam packed with people.  Usually, we go, it's busy, we find a table in the bar area and we're done good to go.  Tonight, no such luck. 

We stood in the bar area waiting for a table with our two children that must have drank that silly, wiggle juice because they could not stand still.  There was an older couple quietly enjoying their drinks with their to go boxes packed up.  I thought to myself, "this is fabulous, they are almost done and we'll be able to sit down super quickly."  So, they pay their bill and continue to sit there drinking their drinks and staring at opposite televisions.  We wait a little longer thinking that any minute they will get up and we'll be able to sit down.  The gray, bouffant haired woman starts putting on her jacket, then the cowboy starts putting his on.  Keep in mind, they are both still sitting in the seat.  They fumble around looking like a bug fighting to roll off its back.  Finally they stand up, only they don't move away from the table.  They just stand there waiting, straightening out their jackets...come on you're like a hundred years old who are you trying to impress.  They finally move as the bus boy starts cleaning off the table.  My heart starts pounding because we are finally going to be able to contain the excess squirmy, hanging on momma's leg, spinning in circles energy to half of a booth.  I start to make my move to the table only to have it seat jacked by two more old people who have a had a bit too much to drink...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I take the kids to the bathroom and just happen to walk by the seat thieves and give them the evil, teacher eye.  My little man plays in the bathroom for awhile and M&M splashes water everywhere.  Okay, time to face the waiting game again.  I get back out and my husband informs me that he had a table for us and these four people scurried past him like little rodents running from a broom and stole another table.  Give me a break.

Everything went downhill from there.  Our waiter was unhappy and slow, our food took FOREVER but, they did give us our appetizer for free!  My little man almost passed out in the booth and M&M was a non-stop wallower (I have no idea how to spell wallow.)  AHHHH, she was cranky and squirmy because she was tired...how could I have missed those classic signs.

Lesson of the Day:  If your kids are tired, you can't be too tired to cook because you will never make it through a dinner out.