Day 609 - Ethan's "First" Outing

I think the walls are beginning to close in for Ellie and I. 

What's that? No, you don't need to worry. The walls of our house are still vertical; I promise they are not caving in. Even if they were, we have plenty of friends with construction knowhow we could goad into helping us. 

Instead, I mean the walls are closing in on Ellie and I in a metaphorical sense. Basically between the rainy spring and having an infant, we've spent a decent amount of time stuck in the house. Honestly, Ellie is probably having a more difficult time with it than I am. Not only does she not get to escape the house multiple times a week anymore but she also has to deal with me constantly splitting my attention between her and Ethan. Lucky for Ellie, yesterday actually marked a first for us in the age of Ethan: a shopping excursion.

Thursday night marks the final meeting of our Church life group until fall. Therefore, it's only fitting that we do some kind of fun activity to celebrate. In this instance, the fun was via a "family barbeque". Part of a "family barbeque" is that everyone contributes something to the cause. For our family, that item would be brats. Conveniently enough, Menards was running a sale on brats for Memorial Day week. Yes, a hardware store was running a sale on bratwursts. With that, I loaded both kids up and we headed to Menards to obtain our prize.

First of all, I should be certain to mention that it definitely takes a lot longer for me to get out the door with two kids than it did with just Ellie. We previously had it down to a science where I could get her shoes on and load her up in the car rather quickly. Then, I could make a quick run back inside to get library books, shopping bags, or anything else we might need for an outing. Now, after that first step, I get Ethan in his car seat, toss the diaper bag on my back, and put him in the car before running back inside to get any final necessities.

That takes us to Menards. In the past, parking lot etiquette for us was for me to just pick up Ellie and head inside. On this occasion, with Ethan's car seat in one hand, I really couldn't pick Ellie up easily. Therefore, she had to hold my hand and walk beside as we crossed the lot. It should be added that she asked me at least twice to pick her up and carry her inside.

Once inside, I loaded both kids in the shopping cart, Ethan and his car seat in the bottom and Ellie sitting in the top part. We then found our way back to the grocery section of store (I know; it's weird) only to find an empty cooler where the brats had been. As I knew our mission had not been completed, I knew there was only one choice as to where I could definitively purchase brats at an economical price: Walmart. With that, we exited the store, I loaded both kids up, and headed to Walmart to do the same thing all over again.

Call David Caruso from CSI: Miami! There's been a robbery. We must hurry...before the case goes cold!

Well, not the exact same thing. At Walmart, Ellie was able to get a new container of raisins. She wouldn't have been able to do that at Menards. So I guess it was a good trade-off for her. As for Ethan? Well, he fell asleep in his car seat while walking around Walmart and got a quality nap. Me? I bought an Orange-Vanilla Coke. See, we all got something. #DaddyWrite

Paul Menard dramatically putting on sunglasses like David Caruso brings me joy.