After our trip to see the Easter bunny, we were feeling pretty confident in our ability to navigate life with four kids. So when our friends — who have a place in the neighborhood — invited us over for a daytime visit, we eagerly accepted the chance to get out of the house. We had always thought of their place as a quick walk from ours and had walked it many times in the past. And we assumed that the same genius arrangement we used to get around the mall would work in the neighborhood too. Well, you know the saying about what happens to people who make assumptions…
We swapped out the $7 stroller we had used at the mall for the neighborhood friendly push car and were off. We made it about two blocks before realizing that what we were attempting was a very bad idea. But, if you know us well enough to be reading this blog, you also know that we of course didn’t turn around.
Arabella suddenly found pushing Teddy to be a task she had no interest in. And she felt the same way about walking in general. She wanted no part of it. We tried to get her and Teddy to ride in the car together, but realizing that wasn’t a viable option decided to let her ride in the car while Jarmon carrier Teddy over his shoulder. Poor Teddy.
Once we arrived, the visit was lovely. Our friends made some delicious food— a make at home kit from a fabulous restaurant— and our foodie kids enjoyed every bite. They even sat at the table and ate out of glass bowls in a relatively civilized manner. They also enjoyed some Stan’s Donuts. In short, they were having the best day ever.
When we moved to the roof, the kids had a blast exploring. They particularly enjoyed playing with grill knobs (**insert cringe emoji**) and the decorative stones (**that they apparently liked so much that I found a few in the diaper bag a few days later**). Their good behavior even lead our friend to post a photo on Instagram proclaiming them the chillest kids ever. (I’m reasonably sure that another or kid or two may have been throwing decorative rocks at the glass door as she was posting this, but shhh don’t tell.)
The kids were upset when it was time to leave — but, “No, go home! No, go home!” is always nice to hear because it means the kids had a good day. Luckily, the walk home home went much better than the walk there thanks to sheer ingenuity. We decided that the basket of the stroller wasn’t being used— why not let Teddy ride in it? After all, Baxter had taken a ride in it many times. And so had groceries weighing far more than Teddy. And, so he did… the entire 3/4 of a mile walk home. Again, not winning any parenting awards for this adventure… but Teddy seemed to think his new seat was pretty cool and we all arrived home safe and happy.
Trina Orlando 