well that was... interesting

So, all-in-all we've never really had any major troubles when we've gone anywhere with the Lil Pooper. I mean, of course we've had the occasional poopy diaper;

or the erp/food/misc. goo ending up on her shirt. People must think we never bathe her, terrible parents we are and all...;

or there was the time her diaper leaked all over her pants and we had to wrap her bottom half in a blanket until we got home...lol;

there was even the time I got caught rinsing her bum at the sink in a public restroom (hey, we had wipes but she threw them out of my purse when I wasn't looking!).

But never have we had much trouble keeping her occupied or busy, especially if we're out eating. That is...until today!

We decided to go to Valentino's Grand Italian Buffet (or The GIB as I like to call it) for dinner. We've gone there before with Lil Pooper, and it's always gone well. It's actually quite nice being able to ensure that everyone will be happy with the menu, and full when we leave. Anywho, apparently the Lil Pooper had plans for the evening that didn't involve a calm and satisfying dinner with the family. I sure wish she would have shared them with us BEFORE we paid for 3 adult meals and drinks.

We get there and get seated right away, yaya! I go get Z a plate of food to keep her busy while the rest of us get ours. I guess what I picked out wasn't to her liking because when I got back to our booth she had successfully commandeered all the sugar packets after throwing each piece of food I'd previously brought to her onto the floor....one by one. Okay, not the end of the world, maybe today is more of a fruit/veggie day instead of protein. I attempt to busy her once again with a piece of hamburger pizza (a previous favorite) and again return to the buffet to find more treats for her. I come back with fruit, and more fruit, and some delicious veggies from the salad bar. Only now I find her grinding the pizza into weird goo protesting about being in her seat. I place the new plate in front of her and begin to eat my own food. Whoa! Big mistake. She is now jabbering at me in some tiny, very angry sounding, foreign language and very clearly is displeased with her new entree. I must admit, a tiny, very angry sounding, foul language was playing through my own head as I decided what to do while attempting to hoover my meal to ensure I was sufficently nourished for the ensuing battle.

Anyway, after spending more time at the buffet searching for food that might get eaten instead of tossed, or on the floor picking up the food I just went looking for, instead of actually eating, I was getting quite tired. And I didn't even get the brunt of it! Poor B spent his meal wrestling away forks, picking hamburger out of his soda, keeping cookie crumbs off the people behind us (yes, the Lil Pooper was indeed tall enough to stand and look over the booth, constantly waving and shouting "hi!!!!!!!!"), drying the table and the baby who HAS to take drinks all by herself, and wiping big smears of desert pudding off of his brand new shirt. So after about 40 minutes, we all left. We were half full, half wet, and wholely discontented. Ahhhh, having a toddler IS interesting. YAY PARENTHOOD!

Thank goodness we can still take a step back and realize how funny it all is! We really do love this family gig.