Last Sunday, I needed to go to the grocery store.  Fred Meyer coupons were burning a whole in my pocket.  Well, not quite but we did need food.  Laura was going to go with me, leaving Joel home to watch the boys, and in frantic desportation he suggested, why don’t we all go?   The boys had been cooped up, sick for the past 2 weeks, and this was just the thing we thought they needed to stop the whining and general fussiness.  So, Laura, Joel (with camera in hand), Nicholas, Dexter and I all piled into Kanga, our mini-van and we were off.  The crying stopped once we left the garage.  Ooh – the plan was working.

Very few people grocery shop at 9am Sunday morning so this was perfect.   Laura and Joel both wanted the boys to sit in the fancy shopping cart that looked like a racing car.  Of course these kind of carts don’t fit as much food, but I was overruled.  We thoroughly wiped the cart down with bleach wipes and plopped the boys into it.  The first sign of trouble occurred then.  Nicholas did not want to ride in the cart.  He cried and twisted around letting us all know he was not happy.  We all ignored him.  My thinking was as soon as we entered the store, Nic would settle.  OK, so we also had to bribe him with food but that did the trick.  They were quite and alert, taking the fruits and vegetable aisles all in.

Everything was cool until I had to run off to the bathroom.  That’s when Nicky cracked.  By the time I got back, his face was red, his cheeks were stained with tears and I crumbled, picking him up.  That boy is heavy.  What a sucker I am.  I had to hold him for the rest of the trip.  No wonder I have a bad back.  ;)  As for Dexter, he was a model of perfect behavior.   I think I have a fellow shopping buddy in Dex.

Enjoy the picture from our first grocery store visit with the boys.