Here's a short video of Lila.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Bad Service
Recently, Matt and I have had horrible service at restaurants while traveling. It's tourist season in Alaska. Many couples are spending big bucks on their trip here. Picture the setting:
Matt and I walk in with the girls around 5:00pm. We try to time it so that the girls aren't too hungry and/or too tired yet and hope the restaurant is still nearly empty. We get the girls settled. Speed read the menu, pick out what we want, quickly close our menus and wait. And wait. And wait. Olivia is getting mad. The crayons and/or snacks we brought are no longer enough. She wants to eat and she wants to eat now. She's also just hit the wall and fatigue is setting in.
It's now 5:45pm. We've only gotten our drinks and have just barely had our order taken. The couple across from us, who arrived 20 minutes after us, has just received their dinner. Matt and I stare at their food with furious envy. Olivia has just spilt her water. All over Matt's lap. We wave down the waiter who appears to ignore us. We grab napkins from a nearby table.
At 6:00, he comes over and informs us that our food will be another two to three minutes. The table across from us is now finishing up dessert. Most everyone around us is offering their french fries to keep Olivia from screaming (at this point she's been taken outside and/or the bathroom several times) any further. We start to get glares. Our waiter is oblivious and is all smiles and small talk with his patrons who do not have children (potentially high tippers).
Finally, at 6:30pm, our food arrives. Olivia can barely eat because she's so tired. Lila finished the food I brought for her long ago and is starting to cry. As soon as our food is placed on the table, our waiter quickly runs off. We have to ask a waitress to find him at 7:00 because he hasn't reappeared to give us our bill, let alone check on us. He comes by, slaps the bill on the table, mumbles a "sorry" under his breath and tries to leave before Matt can give him is credit card (long ago pulled out of his wallet). Matt has to stand up and walk a few steps in order to get his attention to give him the card. We barely tip him. We probably should have left a penny - but would he have gotten the hint?
It's 7:20pm. We arrived nearly two and a half hours ago. Do I hear the patrons who were sitting near us singing songs of joy that we've left or is that my subconscious?
The above scenario takes place on a regular basis here in Alaska.
Personally, I think waitstaff should pay special attention to families with small children. Get them in and get them out. You'll get thanks and good tips from those families and from those sitting nearby who were able to eat their meals in peace!
Matt's comment--I don't necessarily think we should get special service. However, I do think that, when someone walks up to pour water, bring bread, etc, whether it be after 1 or 20 minutes, and I say "we're ready to order", that should be sufficient to send the message. We've eaten out more than a few times with our kids and have a few unspoken rules:
1. When the waitor comes, we order, regardless of whether or not we've had time to look at the whole menu.
2. If one or both of the kids is likely to put up a fuss that particular meal, I'm sure to tell the waitor right off the bat.
3. I politely ask the waitor to bring out Olivia's food as soon as it's ready.
4. I'm very specific with what I ask for for Olivia.
We get the occassional waitor, usually one who tells us that he/she has small kids, that is on the ball and knows just what to do. Unfortunately, that's not the case with everyone. One of the more frustrating parts is that we don't order the cheapest thing on the menu, and I do tip well. So, basically, I'm not asking for special service, I'm just asking that the waitor recognize that we're putting forth the effort to speed things along, potentially for the benefit of everyone in the restaurant, and he/she put forth the same effort to help us get our food, eat, and get on our way before the witching hour hits.
Matt and I walk in with the girls around 5:00pm. We try to time it so that the girls aren't too hungry and/or too tired yet and hope the restaurant is still nearly empty. We get the girls settled. Speed read the menu, pick out what we want, quickly close our menus and wait. And wait. And wait. Olivia is getting mad. The crayons and/or snacks we brought are no longer enough. She wants to eat and she wants to eat now. She's also just hit the wall and fatigue is setting in.
It's now 5:45pm. We've only gotten our drinks and have just barely had our order taken. The couple across from us, who arrived 20 minutes after us, has just received their dinner. Matt and I stare at their food with furious envy. Olivia has just spilt her water. All over Matt's lap. We wave down the waiter who appears to ignore us. We grab napkins from a nearby table.
At 6:00, he comes over and informs us that our food will be another two to three minutes. The table across from us is now finishing up dessert. Most everyone around us is offering their french fries to keep Olivia from screaming (at this point she's been taken outside and/or the bathroom several times) any further. We start to get glares. Our waiter is oblivious and is all smiles and small talk with his patrons who do not have children (potentially high tippers).
Finally, at 6:30pm, our food arrives. Olivia can barely eat because she's so tired. Lila finished the food I brought for her long ago and is starting to cry. As soon as our food is placed on the table, our waiter quickly runs off. We have to ask a waitress to find him at 7:00 because he hasn't reappeared to give us our bill, let alone check on us. He comes by, slaps the bill on the table, mumbles a "sorry" under his breath and tries to leave before Matt can give him is credit card (long ago pulled out of his wallet). Matt has to stand up and walk a few steps in order to get his attention to give him the card. We barely tip him. We probably should have left a penny - but would he have gotten the hint?
It's 7:20pm. We arrived nearly two and a half hours ago. Do I hear the patrons who were sitting near us singing songs of joy that we've left or is that my subconscious?
The above scenario takes place on a regular basis here in Alaska.
Personally, I think waitstaff should pay special attention to families with small children. Get them in and get them out. You'll get thanks and good tips from those families and from those sitting nearby who were able to eat their meals in peace!
Matt's comment--I don't necessarily think we should get special service. However, I do think that, when someone walks up to pour water, bring bread, etc, whether it be after 1 or 20 minutes, and I say "we're ready to order", that should be sufficient to send the message. We've eaten out more than a few times with our kids and have a few unspoken rules:
1. When the waitor comes, we order, regardless of whether or not we've had time to look at the whole menu.
2. If one or both of the kids is likely to put up a fuss that particular meal, I'm sure to tell the waitor right off the bat.
3. I politely ask the waitor to bring out Olivia's food as soon as it's ready.
4. I'm very specific with what I ask for for Olivia.
We get the occassional waitor, usually one who tells us that he/she has small kids, that is on the ball and knows just what to do. Unfortunately, that's not the case with everyone. One of the more frustrating parts is that we don't order the cheapest thing on the menu, and I do tip well. So, basically, I'm not asking for special service, I'm just asking that the waitor recognize that we're putting forth the effort to speed things along, potentially for the benefit of everyone in the restaurant, and he/she put forth the same effort to help us get our food, eat, and get on our way before the witching hour hits.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Klutina River and Valdez, Alaska
We've made it back from our trip to the Klutina River and Valdez. Tired and bit frazzled. But, once again, glad we were able to enjoy more of Alaska.
We left on Saturday, drove to the Air Force base to pick up our pop-up trailer and headed to the Klutina River (where Matt was fishing for Alaska king and red salmon). Once we arrived at our campground and set up the trailer, we realized that it was moldy and our door didn't close properly. I started to get nervous. We got the heater running, discovered that the Pack & Play did, indeed, fit and went to bed. Well, tried to go to bed. Olivia thought that having her own bed meant she didn't have to sleep. The camper's heater quickly died and Lila and I got really cold. I tried to have Lila sleep with us. All she wanted to do was nurse the night away (if not nursing, she wanted to be in her own bed). Kudos to all the moms who can do that. I just can't sleep and nurse at the same time. So, I added more layers to Lila, put her in bed and, eventually, we all fell asleep.
Matt did a lot fishing the following day. In fact, I even spent several hours fishing myself. Unfortunately, we still had no heat in the camper and that night was even worse because the door would not stay shut. Olivia got bitten my mosquitoes so badly that her left ankle swelled up nearly double it's size and I had to give her a few doses of Benedryl.
On the road to Valdez on Monday, I called up the Air Force base to ask them if someone could fix our piece-of-junk trailer (we had been told they had a technician in Valdez if, by chance, we ran into any problems). I quickly found out that there is no technician. I was furious. Who rents out something is such bad condition? Especially to parents traveling with two small children? I was ready for a fight. However, the Air Force rec department quickly and easily let us park our pop-up and stay in one of their permanent RVs at a Valdez campground. The manager was very apologetic. We settled in quickly, had dinner and went right to bed. Finally, a night of warmth and sleep! Even Olivia went right to bed (the first and only night she went right to bed).
Tuesday afternoon, we went on a six hour sea wildlife cruise. We toured with Stan Stephens (http://www.stanstephenscruises.com/) in Prince William Sound a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. Therefore, we thought Olivia, and the boys of the friends we were traveling with, would really enjoy it. Here are a few pictures:
Sea Lions
Humpback Whale
Matt, sleeping Lila, and I near the Columbia Glacier
Note: We quickly fixed Lila's head after the photo was taken-though, she didn't seem to mind sleeping that way.
Here's a short video made from footage off my Canon digital camera. It's not very good - but, shows a little bit of what we saw on the cruise.
Everyone who knows Olivia knows that she doesn't function very well if she's hungry and/or if she's tired. So, you can only imagine how she's been behaving on our trips. She's been quite challenging and I only hope that by the time we start touring around Europe, her behavior will have improved and Lila will skip the stage altogether (can a child skip the "terrific twos?"). She's testing Matt and I nearly every moment of each day. She'll say things like the following:
We left on Saturday, drove to the Air Force base to pick up our pop-up trailer and headed to the Klutina River (where Matt was fishing for Alaska king and red salmon). Once we arrived at our campground and set up the trailer, we realized that it was moldy and our door didn't close properly. I started to get nervous. We got the heater running, discovered that the Pack & Play did, indeed, fit and went to bed. Well, tried to go to bed. Olivia thought that having her own bed meant she didn't have to sleep. The camper's heater quickly died and Lila and I got really cold. I tried to have Lila sleep with us. All she wanted to do was nurse the night away (if not nursing, she wanted to be in her own bed). Kudos to all the moms who can do that. I just can't sleep and nurse at the same time. So, I added more layers to Lila, put her in bed and, eventually, we all fell asleep.
Matt did a lot fishing the following day. In fact, I even spent several hours fishing myself. Unfortunately, we still had no heat in the camper and that night was even worse because the door would not stay shut. Olivia got bitten my mosquitoes so badly that her left ankle swelled up nearly double it's size and I had to give her a few doses of Benedryl.
On the road to Valdez on Monday, I called up the Air Force base to ask them if someone could fix our piece-of-junk trailer (we had been told they had a technician in Valdez if, by chance, we ran into any problems). I quickly found out that there is no technician. I was furious. Who rents out something is such bad condition? Especially to parents traveling with two small children? I was ready for a fight. However, the Air Force rec department quickly and easily let us park our pop-up and stay in one of their permanent RVs at a Valdez campground. The manager was very apologetic. We settled in quickly, had dinner and went right to bed. Finally, a night of warmth and sleep! Even Olivia went right to bed (the first and only night she went right to bed).
Tuesday afternoon, we went on a six hour sea wildlife cruise. We toured with Stan Stephens (http://www.stanstephenscruises.com/) in Prince William Sound a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. Therefore, we thought Olivia, and the boys of the friends we were traveling with, would really enjoy it. Here are a few pictures:
Sea Lions
Humpback Whale
Matt, sleeping Lila, and I near the Columbia Glacier
Note: We quickly fixed Lila's head after the photo was taken-though, she didn't seem to mind sleeping that way.
Here's a short video made from footage off my Canon digital camera. It's not very good - but, shows a little bit of what we saw on the cruise.
Everyone who knows Olivia knows that she doesn't function very well if she's hungry and/or if she's tired. So, you can only imagine how she's been behaving on our trips. She's been quite challenging and I only hope that by the time we start touring around Europe, her behavior will have improved and Lila will skip the stage altogether (can a child skip the "terrific twos?"). She's testing Matt and I nearly every moment of each day. She'll say things like the following:
- "Go away. I need my privacy."
- "I don't like you."
- "Don't look at me."
- "Mommy's/Daddy's mean."
- "Don't touch me."
- "Ahhhh, give it to me now! I want it!"
Fortunately, Matt and I play on the same "team" when it comes to discipline and, therefore she knows she can't pin one parent against the other. However, we're hoping that when grandma McQuilton comes up in a couple weeks, she can give us a few tips! Sometimes it helps to get an outsider's point-of-view!
Olivia napping on the cruise.
Olivia was very concerned about the whale's parents. She kept asking where the whale's daddy or mommy was. She doesn't like to see animals alone. She's connected the fact that animals, like humans, should have parents with them.
There was a parrot in the office of the campground we stayed at in Valdez. When the parrot's owner would leave the room, the bird would start screaming. Our children don't use pacifiers, but they use mini taggie blankets (http://www.taggie.com/) for comfort when they sleep and/or are upset. Still, it surprised us when Olivia said, "Where's him taggie?" She realized he was upset and wanted him to have a taggie so he would feel better. Each day, Olivia comes up with something new that puts smiles on our faces! How quickly she is growing up.
Speaking of growing up, our always-happy Lila is turning into a speed crawler and has begun to show signs of pulling herself up. It's bittersweet. Matt hasn't seen this stage as he was in Iraq when Olivia went through it. Therefore, he's excited to watch Lila. However, it's harder for me because my baby isn't such a baby anymore!
I'm having sinus surgery on Monday and relatives arrive on Tuesday. So, it'll be a busy weekend of getting ready for visitors! Hopefully, by Tuesday, I'll feel well enough to enjoy the company!
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