I had the whole crew yesterday: JA, my niece (5 going on 22), and my nephew (10 mos). It was going to be an interestingly fun day no matter what we decided to do. I needed to go to the teacher store in Cookeville, but knew I couldn't do it alone with three little ones, sooooooo I called for reinforcements - my sister (aka Aunt Manda). Asking Aunt Manda can be hit-or-miss. She's a teacher, cheerleadin coach, is single, and has a rather busy schedule. Luckily, she was able to join the fun :)
Three little ones means three carseats: a forward facing carseat (JA), a booster (the niece, KB), and a rear facing infant seat (the nephew, BA). I was unsure as to whether or not all of these contraptions would fit, but after ten minutes and some awkward poses I got all three properly installed in the Trailblazer. I decided if we have more than two children, we would definitely have to invest in a van! Okay, carseats installed, now time to load the strollers and diaper bags - of course, after ensuring that we had enough diapers, wipes, bottles/formula/food for baby, snacks and drinks for the big kids, and extra changes of clothes for all. Then, the fun part: loading up all the kids! My sister and I decided a man-on-man tactic for the little ones would be best with us taking turns assisting KB, who had to ride in the middle between the big carseats. The seatbelt buckle was difficult to get to, so we would have to help her buckle. After getting them loaded in, I decided that we would try to not get out too much because it was a quite a job! Finally, we're ready to go. Five minutes into the trip, KB wants to know if we even know where we're going. We assure her that we do. Twenty minutes later she wants to know 'How much loooonnngerrrr?' I'm automatically transported back to my childhood when Mom would load the three of us up to go somewhere or when the entire family would take vacations and there were three little voices from the backseat asking that question every few minutes. *Note to self: Apologize to Mom!* Anyway, on the way to Cookeville, I told Amanda that I wanted to take JA to the family fall funfest this year. I thought it was at the end of the month, and Amanda said she had been to one - it should be fun. Okay, fast forward to us getting to the square in Cookeville. We notice it's blocked off and realize the family fall funfest is today!!! Oh dear, what to do? Many of the small businesses are closed during the funfest in order to have a booth on the square. We're thinking there's a really good chance that the teacher store and cupcake place (the promise of cupcakes after teacher store cut out whining before it even happened) would be closed! Then there was also the fact that the fun thing I wanted to take JA to was happening right now - ugh!
We get to the teacher store and were very happy to see they were opened. We get the kiddos, strollers, and diaper bags unloaded and ready to go inside. Now, being a teacher at heart, I love going to teacher stores! I could spend HOURS in a teacher store, even a small one. Of course, having three sets of little hands that would grab what could be reached meant I would have to be quicker than I like. I went for a large chart tablet and left with that and $30 worth of other fun teacher toys. We decided it would be easier to 'stroll' over to the cupcake place rather than reload and unload. I packed my purchases in the car, and we were off. There was one problem: I wasn't 100% sure how to get from point a to point b. I had a pretty good idea and headed in the right direction (I hoped). I saw the back of the building and decided to cut through an alley and some empty parking lots, which wouldn't have been a bad idea except those areas ended up being not-so-stroller friendly. Strollers + lots of loose, small gravel = great workout before devouring hundreds of calories of cupcakes ;) We finally make it inside. It was busier than I had ever seen. There were many college kids working on their laptops, a professor grading papers, and a couple of older couples drinking coffee and reading newspapers: enter the circus! I'm sure everyone in there hoped we were getting our cupcakes to go, unfortunately for them we were not. We picked out drinks and half a dozen cupcakes, found a high chair, and settled down for our snack. I have to say, the kids did wonderful! For a small child, toddler, and infant, they weren't very noisy or too terribly messy. I was a proud mommy/aunt.
We found a sidewalk to use for strolling back to the car, and I asked little sis what she thought of going to the funfest. She was okay with it so we loaded up and went.
I'll admit, I was a little unsure if we had made a wise decision, but the kids were wonderful and seemed to have a good time. KB and JA played on some inflatables, went through a corn maze, and checked out some of the sights. Little BA slept through most of it. We didn't find the fun (free) activities geared for KB and JA until it was time to go. KB was a little disappointed and JA was too tired to notice. We had a good time, but it would have been better if we had planned this outing.
We get back to the car, and I realize that it smells like, for lack of a better word, fart. Euwww! It was then that I realized I forgot to throw away the diapers after I changed the boys, and they were just baking in the car - yuck! I put the nastiness in a plastic bag and set it on the bumper so I can load the strollers and diaper bags. My plan was to put the bag on top of the strollers so I would remember to throw it away at our next stop (McDonald's), which was across town. JA sacked out before I had even backed out. We're driving down Jefferson, when I hear someone honking like crazy. I ask Amanda if they're honking at me - did I do something wrong? She says I'm driving fine, there's no reason for them to be honking at us. The vehicle gets beside us, continues honking, and the passenger is waving like a crazy person. Amanda says, I think they think they know you. I look, don't recognize anyone, but throw up a hand hoping to end this. Nope, as soon as they get beside us again, the beeping and waving continue. Amanda finally realizes they were trying to tell us there was something on the bumper. That's when I realize: Because of all the chaos of unloading kids from strollers, buckling them up, and packing the diaper bags and strollers, I had left the stinky bag of diapers on the bumper!!!! Ooopsie :)
The bag was still there when we got to McDonald's. Wow! I won't go in to the long sstory of our adventures in McDonald's. Let's just say, it was an interesting event filled with lots of laughter :)
Favorite quote of the day:
KB: "I know someone that has a real monkey."
Me and Manda: "Who?"
KB: "Pa, but it's really chickens."
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