One of those days

We have been out of town the past few days and got back home late last night.  I woke up this morning knowing that their were bags to be unpacked, lots of laundry to do, floors that really needed to be cleaned and a refrigerator that needed food so we could have something to eat for dinner.  We were all tired this morning after a late night.  I wasn't quite feeling on my game and Kyla was crying over small issues.  Actually, I started off the day feeling like before we reached lunch I might be crying myself.  Not really sure why, I just had a feeling that the day could hold tears.  If you are a guy reading this you might not understand that, but if you are a woman, I pray you can relate and I am not the only crazy one.

So, we made it through breakfast and started some laundry and made our way over to Meijer to get the groceries we needed.  I always have a list with me when I grocery shop, but this morning I didn't have one prepared very well since we got in late the night before.  I was trying to focus on what I thought we needed, while at the same time trying not to go over our allotted grocery budget amount for the month.  We were doing pretty good and were almost done when I ran into one of our friends from church.  Her and I were talking in the produce section and I knew Kyla was right on the other side of my cart although I wasn't seeing exactly what she was doing.  I could hear her talking in her imaginary world, which she often goes into at the grocery store.  Just a few minutes earlier she was walking down the aisle beside me, holding a package of ground beef and talking and pretending with her "friends."  We have quite the time at the grocery store.

Anyway, my friend and I were talking when all of a sudden I hear a man say to me, "Excuse me, ma'am, is that your child?"  And I was thinking, "Oh, man, do I even want to look over and see whatever prompted the produce man at Meijer to ask this question of me?"  I looked over at Kyla and the man said, "She can't lick the fruit."  It took me a second to realize that as I was talking, Kyla was picking up pieces of fruit and licking them.  I told him I was so sorry and then bent down and asked Kyla if she knew which pieces she had licked, as I was prepared to put them in our cart and go buy them.  I figured if you lick them, you buy them.  Kyla simply told me that no, she didn't know which ones she had licked.  At this point, the produce man picked up the ones he saw her licking and told me he would take care of it.  I again told him that I was sorry.  He walked away and I looked at my friend, thinking how grateful I was it was her and not someone who doesn't have kids.  Luckily, she  has kids of her own and is the children's pastor at our church......she isn't phased by the things that kids do.  In Kyla's defense, I have never sat down with her and told her that you can't lick the fruit at the grocery store.  I told her that today and so a life lesson was learned.

By the time we got to the check out line, Kyla was holding things up to me and asking me if we could buy them while Ashlyn was yelling the word, "Out!" at a loud volume.  I was telling Kyla that we couldn't buy the random toys she was asking for and trying to calm Ashlyn down while at the same time thinking how thankful I was that she can say the word, "out" and use it appropriately.  We finally made it through the line and I had my camera in my purse so I was able to catch this......the cart yeller and the fruit licker all smiles now that they were riding "Sandy" the horse.....

We made it out of the grocery store and although I was frazzled, the tears didn't come and we made it through the rest of the day without any.  The floors got cleaned, bags got unpacked and the laundry is half done.  And, even though I felt behind today, it was all worth it because we were able to spend the last few days with family we don't get to see too often.  Every summer, my family on my mom's side tries to all meet up together for a few days.  This past weekend we met in Bloomington, Indiana for a few days together. It is always so great to catch up and be together and the girls had a really fun time.

Instead of mommy pushing the cart, it was Great Grandpa during a run to Wal Mart

The girls had lots of fun with their Aunt Kara

and bonded with their soon to be Uncle Dustin

Golfing buddies....Troy and Jeremy (my cousin Julie's husband)

Me and my cousin, Ashley, holding up our Karen Kingsbury books with Lake Monroe behind us.  We are both obsessed with her books and feel like we know the characters personally.  It just so happens that the books take place in Bloomington, IN and lots happens on Lake Monroe.  How lucky for us that we got to spend time in the town of some of our best friends.

The littlest of the clan, Ashlyn and Landon

Kyla and Landon thinking they are ready to get into that pool

There was lots of swimming

Kyla with her second cousins, Scott and Matt

I am really thankful that our girls are able to be with this part of their family and get to know them. And, Ashlyn had hugs for everybody.....

Great Grandpa

Matt

Great Uncle Mark

and John (my cousin Ashley's husband)

We loved being with everyone and are so glad for the time we had with them.  We took a group picture but unfortunately by camera battery died right as it was being taken.  Even though being away for a couple of days can make for a challenging first day back, it is always worth it to be with family.