ENJOYING THE JOURNEY!: Tempanyaki Fiasco!

My kids love to go to Tempanyaki! We don't go very often because it is pretty pricey to use as a family restaurant, but when we do, they love to watch the show the chefs put on. Branden often askes to go to "the place where they cook on the table". So last Saturday, after a pretty tough day with Braden just getting over being sick, he had quite the case of cabin fever. Also, he hadn't eaten much the last couple of days and I wanted him to have a good dinner. We thought it might be a good idea to get out and take them somewhere fun where we knew they would eat well. So off we went, and the fiasco begins. The wait turned out to be just over a half hour, which as you all know is hard on little ones. They ususally seat eight at a table, but tonight they must have been trying to maximize their sales, and they squished 10 of us on a table. We were with another party of 6 which luckily included some children. The kids were stoked and ready to watch the "fire". We ordered and everthing was going well until the chef started to hand out the shrimp and Logan didn't get any. We had ordered him chicken. Here comes the tantrum! We tried to calm him by letting him know that dad would share his. That didn't work, and dad finally took him out. The guy next to me said, "this is when you are glad you share a table, right?" Luckily, hewas the father and was just trying to let me know we weren't bothering them. Five minutes later, they returned. We were eating and everthing was going well. Then the chef started to throw the shrimp into peoples mouths. Logan wanted to try it. He missed, but it was okay because it landed on his lap and he was still able to eat it. The chef told him to close his eyes. This way he could throw it into his mouth without Logan moving. The shrimp came flying, missing his mouth, but smacking him right in the eye. Luckily it was closed. And the tears began to flow again. This time, it took much longer to stop them. When I finally got back to the table with him, everyone was just finishing up their meal. Those of you who have been there know that once the chef is done, they start cleaning everything up and bring you your check. Once people start leaving, the pressure is on for you to finish up too. We must just be slow eaters, but I felt like we had to shovel it in. The waitress kept coming and clearing off everything we weren't currently touching. The bussers were hovering with their buckets and rags, and the people waiting to be seated were watching us anxiously awating their turn. We accepted the to go box the waitress so kindly offered us without request, and packed up. I got home feeling like I had just run a marathon where my life depended on winning!