IHOP with the Kids

Last night, Rheanna was busy, so the kids and I decided to go out. Their vote was Arctic Circle so they could play. That didn't sound very fun to me, so I convinced them to go to IHOP. The nice part was it was Tuesday night, so the kids were free. I was told I was crazy to take 3 kids to a sit down restaurant by myself, but I was up for the challenge. My only worry was if someone needed to use the potty... The kids did really well. IHOP is great in that they give the kids crayons and a place mat to color, so that kept them busy for the most part while waiting for food. We were in a booth and they loved standing up and looking around the restaurant, sometimes peering too closely over the partition to the family next to us. It probably annoyed them, but hey, it's a family restaurant on kid's night. Alec started fussing, but as soon as he had a bottle was back smiling and laughing. The food finally came and they ate really well. They both got the Rooty Jr. which has a pancake, an egg and 2 sausages, they licked their plates clean. Why don't they do that at home? Maybe waiting until 7:15 to feed them at home would make them eat all of their food : ) Well, during the meal, Payton asked to go to the bathroom a few times, but I asked if she could wait and she said she could. Just before she was done with her plate, she had that look of panic and said, "Daddy, I have to go NOW." OK, well, time to decide what to do - do I take her and leave the boys? Do I take everyone and hope no one disturbs our food while we are gone? (this is the part when more than one adult would be better). Since she really had to go, I realized the fastest thing was to just take her. I asked Hyrum to watch Alec, and he agreed. (I was a little worried, he'd get up and follow us to the bathroom, but he remained calm and in charge). In the bathroom, we had to wait in line since it was filled with kids (the only bad part about kid's night). Finally, Payton was able to go. We came out and I looked at our table, but didn't see Hyrum's head at first. Then I saw him, he'd moved seats to my side of the table to take care of Alec. He had picked up his plate and chocolate milk and settled in. He was playing with Alec and making him laugh. They were having a blast. I asked him if anyone came and talked to him while I was gone, he said they didn't. So, I may have made an unwise choice leaving my 4 year old with my 5 month old alone in a busy restaurant, but in the end it worked out great. I was proud of my accomplishment of tackling my small herd by myself, but may take some time off before I try again. Thank you Hyrum for being such a great babysitter.