Cows and Slurpees and Donuts! Oh my!

Cow Appreciation Day, 7-Eleven Day and Krispy Kreme's Birthday all in one day!
 Mom and Dad were gone with the other two siblings, Emily and I were in charge of babysitting the little ones. So what do we do? We drag them all around town to dress up like cows and eat free food, naturally :)

The fun started at Chick-fil-A. Well technically it started at Khol's, then Macey's to get tape for the cow costumes, but then we got to Chick-fil-A. We got in our cow disguises so we could get a free meal. I was seriously so impressed with Chick-fil-A, they had this Cow Appreciation celebration down. The line moved quickly and we had our food quickly. And we got 6 full meals for only $10? (Em and I were party poopers-we did not dress up, so we did not get free food.)

Here are the kids posing with the Chick-fil-A Cow. Christopher was worried the cow was going to take off his ears, because he did that to another kid....hence the distance between him and Mr. Chick-fil-A cow.

Seriously, how cute is this kid...uh I mean cow..? He was so in to being a cow. He was walking around mooing and planned to come into the restaurant crawling "'cause that's how a cow would come in :)" He sure got a kick out of it.

 Next, our free food adventure took us to 7-Eleven for Slurpees! Slurpees are a family favorite, but apparently some of the little ones have never had them. Drew was smitten. He asked if we could go get Slurpees again 'last night'.
This stop was not quite as pleasant as the previous. Nico was not feeling well and left his Chick-fil-A and fruit punch all over the front sidewalk of 7-Eleven. Poor kid.
The rest of us had a good time, though.

Our last stop was Krispy Kreme! We love Krispy Kreme doughnuts, we especially love inexpensive Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  The lines were crazy and the parking insane, but Krispy Kreme is Milllie's favorite...she literally ate half a dozen herself. We waited for about 40 minutes for the gooey hot goodness of fresh Krispy Kremes.

All the little ones were fascinated by the doughnut making process. Thank you Krispy Kreme for having something entertaining to watch while we stood in line for so long. Millie said waiting in line was worth it just to watch the doughnuts be made, but the doughnuts are an added bonus.
I asked Nico to smile for this picture. He broke down into tears and said he couldn't smile because he hates being sick. After a brief melt down he wipes his eyes and says "I'm ready" This is the closest thing we got to a smile all day.

Eating doughnuts in the car



Nico, still not feeling well, decided he couldn't finish his donut. Drew turns to him and throws his hands up! "Why!? They are so GOOD!" He was appalled.

Fun day, fun places, fun people :) Although now I kinda feel horrible for dragging poor Nico around while he was not feeling well. We thought he was just dehydrated...

So... What's The Point? (aka What I learned)

I learned today that life with 4 little ones is an adventure. You always have something going on. Today it was playing chase in a department store, food on the floor, restless legs, shoes left behind, throw up and multiple potty breaks. I also learned I can handle it. I am capable of keeping 4 kids alive (and mostly happy) in public for a whole day :) Yes, it was crazy. Yes, I am sure people were looking at us. Yes, it was uncomfortable to ask someone to clean up puke. Yes, it was annoying to have to stand outside the bathroom multiple times. Yes, it was inconvenient to go back for shoes. Yes, it was tiring to hold a sick six year old. But it was also empowering. I felt needed. They could not do any of those things by themselves. They depended on Emily and I to get them through this crazy day and to entertain them in the process. Props to all you moms for living this on a daily basis.
I learned kids will be kids and there is no reason they should be anything else. I was lucky enough to spend my day with 4 pretty well behaved and adorable kids. That still takes patience. More people need to let kids be kids. If they can't be kids when they are kids, when do they get to be kids? Certainly we would not want a bunch of adults going around acting like kids. Too often we see kids that are not allowed to be kids because of the inconvenience it causes, especially in public. I learned today that kids don't mean to be inconvenient...actually I learned that a long time ago... I noticed it today while we were out. Playing chase in a department store really does sound tempting. Once they were gently reminded that here is not the place, they calmed right down. (like I said I was with well behaved children, that may not work on all children, it may not work on yours. I don't know) I think kids need to receive more teaching, more patience, more guidance and more love. And more patience...did I already say that, because seriously that is the most important. Kids will be kids. They may be more well behaved kids, but they will still be kids. They will always need a second chance to be more obedient, more kind, have better manners. They are still learning. I know this because I was a kid once. I wanted to be obedient and have good manners, but I was still learning how this earth experience works. I was blessed to have very patient parents that did a lot of teaching and guiding and loving, and they did it kindly. I know I don't have kids yet, so take this as you will, but one day when I do I hope to remember the examples of my parents and the lessons I've learned on days like today.