let's not do this again

You know those days that you just want to stay in bed?  When you have a gut feeling its just not going to be a good day?  That was me Friday.  I had planned to make the near 2 hour trip to have my car serviced for a while.  For those new here the 2 hour trip is no biggie.  I go about once a week to shop and see my sister and her family.  Now, when it was just me and baby girl we flew solo, but now that little man has joined the crew I take reinforcements...aka, Rosie.

We loaded up 2 kids, a double stroller, diaper bags, etc in the pouring, soaking, drenching rain and set out on time.  We wheeled into the dealership and made arrangements to be dropped off where my kind sister had left us her vehicle with 2 carseats all set up in the back.  Once dropped off we moved the stroller and diaper bags to my sisters SUV (pouring drenching rain continues) and I give the people from the dealership a card with my cell number instructing them to call me when my car was ready.  At this point I hear my hair frizzing up, or rather growing exponentially.  So its not going to be a good day for me looks wise-I can deal.

Deciding the rain will not deter us Rosie, Hank, Carsyn, and I set out to shop and dine.  First stop, Panera where Carsyn usually devours a grilled cheese, yogurt, pickle, and cookie.  Today though, no dice.  This is a sign perhaps Carsyn is not in the best of moods.  We decide to drop her and Rosie off at the Lilly store to pick up a few dresses and let momma feed Hank in the car.  First mistake, Rosie decides to let Carsyn go in the children's store and try on shoes.  Carsyn wants shoes, does not want to take them off.  Rosie calls mom and states Carsyn will not take the shoes off, they're pink and white sequin..can she have them.  Completely practical, yes?  Ummm, the answer would be no. Momma instructs Rosie to distract with promises of seeing Maddox later and ice cream.

While in the car I decide to sneak a peek of myself in the rearview..Holy smokes! The rain has not been kind.  I dig through my purse to find a ponytail holder to no avail.  At this moment Hank chooses to look at me laugh and poop.  Big poop.  We're talking wardrobe change poop.  No. Big. Deal.  I stand with the driver door open and lay Hank in the driver's seat to change him...Well, lets just say he creates a mess there so we move to the passenger seat to finish the process.  Baby is clean, changed, and now happily cooing in the carseat in the back and I proceed to wipe the entire front of my sister's SUV with a baby wipe.  Its still raining.  I'm looking HOT.

At this point Hank and I finally make it to the Lilly store to pick up the dresses.  Well apparently everyone in the eastern United States has become a Republican and decided the elephant Cassie dress is a must have.  What? (Side note, a big sister and the Lilly Store in Longboat Key can work miracles together to make sure a little sis's fashion needs are met-so if you need to find something I recommend you start there).  I'm not about to whine over a dress so I put on my happy face and proceed to move on.

We decide to change direction and go to another baby store to see what they have for Carsyn.  If you know me, you know I love to shop and I have a weakness when it comes to baby girl clothes.  Pair that with a little birthday spending money and I become dangerous.  We find nothing. One measly little outfit for Carsyn and she's pretty much exhausted.  She screams and cries not wanting to leave the toys in the store.  We distract with promises of Maddox.  At least its stopped raining and we arrive at the mall to kill an hour and let Carsyn run around the play area in hopes it will wear her out.  My pal at JCrew hooks me up with a ponytail holder, Hank is sleeping, Carsyn is playing and I snag a PSL.  Things are looking up and I call the car dealership to see how things are going.  I'm told someone will call me back.

We load the kids back up in the car and Carsyn falls asleep immediately.  Its time for Hank to eat again so we decide that's more important than picking up my car and the dealership said to be there before 6:00.  Plenty of time.  We pull into the dealership at 5:45 and I walk to the service desk to pick up my car.  The lady tells me they didn't get to it.  What the what?????  Apparently they needed my verbal permission to service it and could not get ahold of me because my cell number was not on record.  Y'all I'm frazzled.  They offer me a loaner and my sister offers to let me keep her SUV.  The kids are becoming cranky and I'm becoming cranky and hungry so we head out for Chilis to drown our troubles in margaritas.  I kid, I kid!

As soon as we pull in Carsyn sees the big chili out front and is immediately smitten.  "Big punkin!" she yells.  Its cute.  We go in and order quickly, mac and cheese for Carsyn and grilled cheese for Maddox.  Maddox proceeds to show Carsyn the treasure map he made at school.  Carsyn proceeds to crumble it in her fingers.  Maddox proceeds to melt down.  His mom urges him to share.  I proceed to rip the map from Carsyn's tight little grip and promise her a trip to big punkin.  Her little eyes light up and I feel I've won the battle.  Momma is SO smart.  She runs 347 circles around big punkin squealing in delight while people park their cars and stare.  She embraces big punkin, she kisses big punkin and at this point I want big punkin to magically disappear.  I begin coaxing her...deluding her with promises of the best mac and cheese ever...ice cream and cookies for dessert.  She wants to stay with big punkin.  I tear her away and she seems distracted enough once we get back inside as our food has arrived.

The kids are slowly eyeing each others plates.  Maddox's lip starts to quiver...little cousin's mac and cheese looks awful tasty and his grilled cheese not so appealing.  He begins bartering with french fries-crisis averted!! My sister and I fist bump over our parenting strategies-each kid has equal parts fries, mac and cheese, and grilled cheese.  We start eating our tacos and that's when we hear it... "BIG PUNKIN"  I wolf down my food and whisk Carsyn outside once again.  She proceeds to run around big punkin 853 more times.  I think at this point people feel sorry for me and I get the sympathetic nod. I vow to never eat at Chilis again.

We tear Carsyn away, load up the car, drive through Starbucks and load everyone up on SCMs, Strawberry Frapps, and pumpkin bread.  We have a happy little ride home while Tangled plays in the background.

We survived.  Oh, and you might be asking where was Hank for the last 3 hours?? Little man was just snoozing away.  Sometimes the Lord gives you a little break.

And the next time it rains? I'm staying home.