Fun Friday with another side of drama

Yesterday morning Andy took Drew and Madeline to an amusement park to ride the rides with some friends. I opted not to go because of the ticket price AND the heat. Seemed like a good daddy-event.

They had a blast. Drew was very particular about which rides he would and wouldn’t go on regardless of peer pressure (I was more daring but likewise have always known my own mind).

I don’t have any pictures because I didn’t want to bog Andy down with a camera. (Sometimes I think men really do need a purse-equivalent. Keys, wallet, phone, sunglasses…camera.)

Meanwhile, I bathed Adelaide and decided to attempt getting her two-year-old portraits taken. (You know, since she turned two in March.) Problem is, I walked out the front door without remembering to grab Andy’s keys. Locked out without car keys and holding a heavy toddler and her portrait dress. Smooth.

I stood there, contemplating what to do, and suddenly remembered I maybe had a spare key to Andy’s car down in the recesses of my purse. I dug around and found it! I felt like I had won the lottery. So we were able to leave after all, and I just decided to take my time and wander stores until Andy got home to let us all back in.

First up, the portrait studio. I didn’t actually have an appointment; every time I called I got an answering machine and they never called me back. So I was crossing my fingers they would squeeze us in, and they did. We didn’t even have to wait ten minutes!

ADELAIDE. WAS. A. PILL.

I even thought about buying the shot of her with the poutiest of faces just so I’d remember what a stinker she’d been. (That and it was a darn cute photo.) Finally I got her to smile and we got some great shots, usually by sternly saying “Adelaide! DO NOT SMILE!!!” with a fake-mean look on my face. The feather tickler did wonders, too.

After pictures I wandered stroller-less (forgotten in the back of my van, which Andy took) around the mall, stopped in Gymboree (only because they had a blinking 60% off sign outside the front of the store), and then took her to Chick-Fil-A for a quick bite to eat. It was kind of fun being on a little date with just her and she was so good other than the refusing-to-smile-for-pictures thing.

On our way home we stopped in at Walmart, a different one than the evening before. I could not believe my eyes when another, older man walked out right in front of me with a 24-pack of beer and the Walmart employees running after him asking for a receipt. What are the chances this would happen twice in a row, right under my nose?

(God? I’m really not planning on stealing any beer. From Walmart or anywhere else.)

This time, the man just kept walking, absently waving towards the check-out lanes, “that lady checked me out over there…” Never stopped, never showed a receipt. A manager ran out after him and I did see him show his receipt in the end, but the whole thing was really rather fishy.

Oooh, and the best part of the day, Andy had worked his day off so he was off yesterday — so we got a babysitter and went out on a date! This time I won’t bore you with the details of our meal, but we had a great time.

After we had finished, some friends from church came over to say hi and ended up hanging out with us for a while. The restaurant staff even brought over an extra dessert for us to taste.

I’m tellin’ ya, it pays to know the manager.