Maddry's Traveling Circus

Well, I did it!

I took all 4 kids out to the grocery store and to Mc Donalds all by myself!!! Yep, it's true. So here is a little about our first adventure:


We were out of a few things at the house, so I decided that this would be a good time to take the kids out for a quick trip to the grocery store. After all the kids had been fed we loaded in the van and headed for the store. I talked to the boys about my expectations for their behavior and then bribed them with doughnuts if they were good and helped me out. :) When we got there I left all the kids in the car while I went and got a cart. After I got back I tried to fit all kids in/on the cart and immediately ran into issues getting the girls in. We stood there in the hot heat while I tried every which way to fit the 2 car seats in the cart. It wasn't happening. Meanwhile Luke was starting to get excited (translation: he was ready to get in the store for his doughnut), people are starting to watch me (possibly thinking that I'm crazy) and then this lady walks by looking all together with her ONE infant car seat in her cart and says, "Wow, twins?! You have your hands full!" To which I reply, "Better full than empty" with a forced smile on my face. I decide to take our traveling show to the store in an attempt to keep Luke from getting run over and keep trying to make car seats fit in a space they weren't going to fit in. After more struggling I decide that we are just going to need 2 carts and Caleb is going to have to drive one!!! So with strict instructions to Caleb (don't run into anyone or anything, stay behind mama, and don't run while pushing the cart) we were off. We definitely draw attention, but it wasn't that bad. Other than Caleb bruising my achillies tendon and running into a few displays we did it! The girls slept the whole time, every elderly person in the store stopped us to look at the girls and the big brothers were rewarded with 2 doughnuts each! It was a great first trip!

Since we had such a successful first trip I decided to take the kids to Mc Donalds to play while waiting to meet Joseph for dinner. I carried the carriers and the boys held hands across the parking lot. We got in, took up the whole counter and ordered 2 drinks and some fries. After much discussion about the twins, they hand me the drinks and fries on a tray. I hand the drinks to Caleb and then stare at the fries. Neither Caleb or I had a free hand to carry the fries and I didn't trust Luke carrying them so I was trying to decide what the best way was to do this. I must have been standing there staring at the fries for a while because the lady behind me
said, "Wow your hands are full, can I help you carry something?" Absolutely! I am all about taking help these days. After she helped us in the playland we did really well by ourselves. Another successful trip!

2 trips in one day and I learned a lot about traveling with all 4 kids by myself. Three big ones come to mind right now... patience, ask for help and don't tell Luke to "hurry up" because he will go slower!! Oh yeah, and that people love to comment on my situation!