Going Out to Eat

It may be hard to get the kids to sit down for regular food
but dessert usually captures their attention.

Whenever we find ourselves in the eating out frame of mind (far too often) we usually go for fast food. It's substantially less stressful to just let the kids eat in the car than it is to get everyone out, corral them into the restaurant, coordinate the ordering, manage the mess potential and clean up chocolate milk spills. Somewhere in there the parents usually need to eat too so it's kind of frazzled. But tonight we planned a family activity to go to this themed restaurant in Salt Lake valley called the Mayan.

Jason playing on the stone snakes outside
of the restaurant.

It's a mexican food place but it's got a dark lit, theme park ride type of atmosphere. It's got a jungle theme with caverns, treehouses, and waterfalls and for entertainment about every 10 minutes divers and acrobats appear around the central waterfall. It's the closest thing Utah has to the full-immersive experience of a Disneyland show experience. For that reason I love going there. The kids also enjoy it. There's enough visual and aural stimulation there with the lights, the divers and the fire throwing guys to keep them engaged in their surroundings. This helps them not go feral on us or the other people at the restaurant. The overall din of the waterfall also helps cover up the noise of Ben crying so it was a very pleasant experience this time. It did cost us $80 but every now and then, it's worth it if it means that everyone has fun and Mom and Dad's stress level doesn't max out.