Eatings out

We've been to restaurants twice to eat out, in the last week. Going to a restaurant is much easier now that the boys are big enough that we can be pretty sure that they are not going to puke, with little warning. It seems that some children's response to choking is not to cough, but to vomit, and we were lucky enough to have two of them. On a number of occasions I've picked up a child and run for the door, leaving confused onlookers in my wake. Once, I didn't make it and A honked in the entrance of a pizza restaurant in Clacton. They've also vomited into a bowl in El Piano (we left a large tip) and a tray in a pub. Usually, because we know the warning signs, we managed to get them to a flowerbed, or gutter, or car park.

Anyway, the first one we went to was a place that I first went to when I came for an interview. It's a very rural sort of place, built on the edge of a valley. It's mostly outside (under cover) and there are two very large dogs which wander about. The dogs are completely oblivious to all attention, they just walk slowly and hoover bits of food off the floor. The boys were a bit sad about this - they chased the dogs and tried to stroke them; because the boys were slightly nervous, by the time they got around to stroking, the dogs had usually moved. And if they got one stroke in, they usually didn't get a second one, because the dogs had moved.

The service was epically slow (we knew that, it's renowned for it), and we were say by the kitchen, so we could see all the tasty things other people had. Next time, I'm having enchiladas. I had a veggie burger, which was a little disappointing. A and D had quesadillas, which they ignored and just ate their fries (as I have to remember to call them).

We went walking after that - which was the point of the trip to the country. We made very slow progress (as we tend to), so didn't get far. There was a woman with a baby on her back who got stuck behind D - every 10 feet he picked up another stick, added it to the bulging collection in his hand, and ran back to show her. She had to stop and say "OOh", but she was very tolerant.

She eventually got past D, and caught up with A, and got all distressed, because she though she'd got away, but I explained it was a different one, and he wasn't going to show her sticks.

As we were heading back the clouds descended, and did sort of blow along in wisps - with a very definite barrier. I thought that the boys would be excited about this, but they didn't really get the idea. I tried to explain that there were clouds, like in the sky. And they looked at me confusedly, and then pointed at the clouds and shouted "Fire, fire!".

I suppose you want to see some photos. Well, I'm going to put them here anyway.

Here's the cafe:



This is a lizard. R, who we've met here has a 9 year old son who is quite good at (a) spotting lizards, and (b) catching them. A and D always try, but never succeed.
Clouds.


That's the view. It's not a bad view. And what's even more impressive is that just over the top of those hills is an enormous city. The hills in the far background are a long way behind, and the city is between us and them. We are about 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles here.