Taking the Scenic Route

This afternoon my folks came to Wichita to give us a lift to Abilene (1.5 hours away) to celebrate my Aunt & Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary.  The drive there was actually fairly nice.  They got Zane a Thomas magnetic book and a compilation of Dick and Jane for the trip.   The adults were all laughing heartily at Zach’s rendition of ‘Dick & Jane’.  We all wondered how generations of people had read these aloud to kids without cracking up, especially some of the stories that have excessive amounts of “oooh” and similar sounds. 

The wait at Brookville, even once we got to the room was really long.  The guests of honor had a breakdown on the way and we were waiting for them and their party to all make it there.  Zane and Lucas were both having a rough time with the wait.  Both were hungry, wiggly, attracted to the cake, and not wanting to be held.  I asked the wait staff if they had any crackers or rolls or something we could give the little ones since it was taking a while and I wanted to help settle down both the young kids.  (especially since I was 6 months pregnant, and Lukas’ mom was 9 months pregnant…due in 2 weeks or so)  Both of us were tired, and the Dad’s were losing patience.  The wait staff said no, they wouldn’t bring anything out until everybody was sitting.  There were maybe 5 people of the 50 or so in attendance sitting (including the person in the wheelchair).  I was pretty annoyed.  The tables filled up in such a way to leave Mike, Diane and Lucas without a place with 3 chairs, so they came to sit with us, where there were two chairs, expecting to put Lucas on the corner.  I noticed that the tables were set for 9, but there was room for 10 (one side had 4, 1 on each end, the other side only had 3, but clearly had room for 4).  You would think we asked them to move the building over 2 feet.  They insisted that we couldn’t do that because each table was set for 9.  I pointed out there was room for 10 and gave her a look.  She brought back a place setting with a hint of an attitude.  Then, in all seriousness, asked if we needed another chair.  Under his breath, Zach declared that “no, Mike loves sitting on the floor”.  lol.  Of course we need a chair.  Why is this a hard concept!?!

There are about 6 or 7 tables.  We are at the only table with young kids.  (there are other kids, but all the others are 7 years+).  What order would you serve the food, especially after the parents had been asking about getting some snacks for the kids and two of the women are visibly very pregnant?  Evidently, they thought it was logical to serve us last.  grrrrrr.  By the time they got to us, Zane was so wound up he was twisting in his seat, unable to focus and Lucas was trying to cover his ears with his hands (very loud in the room) and also visibly upset.  It was not pretty.  Zach tried to keep Zane sitting and getting him to eat, but he just was past the point of coming back at that point.  I switched seats with Zach and Zane immediately climbed over into my lap, pressed his ear against me and held his hand over his other ear.  I helped hold him tightly, with one hand over his ear while he put his hands over his eyes and made as dark and quiet of a space as I could and sang to him.  He started to relax a bit, but then would get back wound up again. 

I finally just carried him out of the room to one of the rooms upstairs where it was quieter.  We sat up there for a bit, he sat in my lap, then wondered around a bit.  Zach came to check on us in about 10-15 minutes and in that time, he had gotten a hold of himself and was doing much better.  We went back downstairs and out to the SUV to retrieve some of Grandma’s goodies…some sticker books and stuff she had gotten for the trip.  We went back to the table and he was more back to himself and grandma and he played with the sticker book so I could eat a bit.  My food was cold, but by this point I did not care.  My stomach had been growling for well over and hour and I was starving.  Thank goodness I had food on my plate because they had cleared the table.  They asked me if I was done.  Uh, I haven’t really started yet…thanks for not giving me something early on to help settle down our kids, and thank you again for clearing all the food before I got a chance to eat. 

The manager is getting a call from me tomorrow.  I was so upset.  I have heard how wonderful this place was for years and years, and it really was not even close to what I was expecting.  The general review of the place:  service was terrible (dh finally had to get his own coffee because nobody would get him any), not child friendly, the chicken was bland and dry (I have had Dillons chicken that had more flavor), the corn was good (but not even close to my SILs cream corn), the potatoes were good, the gravy was excellent, but the peaches were just normal canned peaches, and not the home-canned I had heard about, and I doubt the pickles were home-canned (like they used to be).  The biscuits (they did have bread, freaking bitches) were actually quite good, and I don’t really like most biscuits.  The cole slaw was also pretty good, and I don’t like cole slaw either.  I think if the service wouldn’t have been so terrible I would have enjoyed the meal a lot more…well, if it would have been hot when I ate the bulk of my meal.  lol.

I was happy to see the family.  We had a good time conversing on the drive to and from, and Zane did really well in the car going back and forth.  It was great to see people again and I got to congratulate my SIL in person for her new job.  It was also good to see Diane again.  We really need to get together more…she only lives 5 minutes from me.  lol.  I see her more often in the grocery store and Wal-mart than I do at each other’s houses and we really like each other and our kids are about the same ages.  We are just both home-bodies I guess. lol.

I am glad we were able to make it to the celebration.  This aunt is the one who taught me piano, and ’practiced’ on my and my brother to try out different activities for kids when she was in college for teaching music.  (she ended up teaching for 25 years, entering school at age 40 or so).  She and her husband were always very loving and sweet to us.  I remember spending the night with her as a kid, and she is the one who sewed Zane’s baby quilt.  He has a love of life and sense of humor that is just contageous.  He and dad still work together a lot to share the job as they both farm their land.  Very sweet couple.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot….  I actually called 911 tonight.  On our way home on the interstate there was a driver weaving all the way across the lanes, almost running off the side of the shoulder.  What a moron!