My friend, Mindy, and I went on an adventure on Thursday to a PX at another base about thirty minutes from where we live. I’m calling it an adventure, because anytime we venture out of our small post with all five of our children, it’s an adventure.
We were both planning to go to a birthday party for a little boy that goes to playgroup with our kids today and needed to get a present. The “toyland” at our PX has approximately five toys to choose from, so we decided that after everyone had an afternoon nap we would travel to Vogelweh’s PX and PowerZone.
After all the kids woke from their nap we loaded everyone up and were ready to be on our way. I think it was Mindy’s first time driving there by herself since her husband deployed. I have been with Will, but it was my first time going with all three of my children since my husband deployed. We were both excited to step out together!
I totally forgot how distracting it can be to drive with two silly three year olds in the back! I had to really focus while driving on the autobahn. I really feel for those of you in the states that are actually going places with your small children on a regular basis!
We did our shopping at the PX first and then headed over to the PowerZone, where there is a pretty significant toy area. In significant, I mean there are approximately four aisles of toys.
While our purpose was to get a birthday present, I was also excited to be able to buy toys for our my children. We don’t have a Wal-mart or Target that we are frequenting often and turning down requests for toys from our children on a regular basis. The girls haven’t been in a toy store in at least four months!
It was neat to see how differently they both reacted to the situation. MC asked for every thing she saw right away. I heard “I want” from her over every other toy she saw, especially when we arrived at the Barbie and baby doll aisle. EA on the other hand didn’t ask for anything at all until she saw one toy that she absolutely fell in love with.
There were some Fisher Price Little Mommy baby dolls that cried and sucked pacis and bottles. Bless her heart, she just stood in awe of those little babies! And then she said, “I want a baby with a paci and bottle”. There was NO WAY I was turning down that sweet request. She had all ten of the babies on the shelf crying away and calling for their mommy! Of course, MC saw them and wanted one of those too. So we walked away with two new babies to add to our growing collection.
Here’s a picture of the girls taking care of their babies after I opened them up at home.
Will ended up with a set of farm fridge magnets from Leap Frog. He has been admiring and playing with a set that Mindy has on her refrigerator.
When we planned our outing, we decided that if things were going well that we would eat at the Food Court there. They have a lot more choices to offer than our own food court. We only have two…Anthony’s Pizza or Taco Bell.
Things were going very well for us, so we added eating at the food court to our day’s adventure. And believe it or not, I still chose to order from Taco Bell because it was the easiest for me to maneuver. I go for easy a lot…it helps me to survive. But believe me, I had to ask for forgiveness for coveting Mindy’s philly cheesesteak and cheese fries from Charley’s!
We felt so proud of ourselves for going out shopping on our own!! We asked the air force couple sitting next to us to take our picture. I’m sure they thought we were totally nuts!!
So, here we all are, all seven of us….
…two mommies,
…two three year olds,
…one two year old,
…one fourteen month old,
…and one six month old!
It’s funny how we can feel such a sense of accomplishment after doing something as simple as taking a shopping trip with our children. But when your husbands are away and you’re living in a foreign country, you learn not to take the simple every day things in life for granted.
Have you done anything “simple” that has given you a sense of accomplishment? What are you learning to appreciate?
Suzanne says
What a sweet reminder that we often take ‘good’ shopping excursion for granted. I am feeling blessed by the fact that my youngest is 3 and now I can do so much more than I ever could before. My 5 & 7 year old are very helpful and Paige is becoming quite the helper in the midst of it all. This fall I will have 2 in school full-time and I am looking forward to the 1:1 with Paige.
LifeatTheCircus says
Looks like you guys had a super time! This may be a stupid question, but did you have to drive on the other side of the road to get there? If so, you are one brave woman! I am impressed!! I totally understand the need to keep it simple so you can have hands free to cut food, help with straws and clean up messes! Cute post!!
Andrea says
Hi! Just visiting after checking Mindy’s blog. We live between Baumholder and Ramstein, so it was funny to see that you “ventured out “. 🙂 Ahhh, to live so close-I miss that. Yay for getting out though! We went to Vogelweh yesterday, but I think the toy selection is still limited! One time they were.out.of.Barbies! We needed a birthday gift, so I checked at Baumholder-they had them! Go figure.
I try to do many things as simply as I can. That way I can be prepared for unplannet events. I am trying to set up an easy school schedule this next week-wish me luck!
Nancy says
The girls look so sweet with their babies. It’s nice you were able to have a little adventure with your friend. Cool pictures! My “adventure” was planning and having my son’s 1st birthday party.
Ambajam says
Very sweet to see the maternal instinct at such a young age. It’s a very cute photo. 🙂