Out and About on Veteran's Day

So Judy and I decided to get together on Veteran's Day since all the kids were off from school. We love to spend a day with the Strausses- the kids play sooo well together and I get lots of Judy-time. We talked Monday morning and decided on an ambitious agenda- going to Build A Bear with all five kids and then going for ice cream afterwards.

Here we are on the way. The kids looked so cute all strapped in.

We got to the mall, parked the car and started unloading. We brought the double stroller with us, presumably for Jack and Jenna to ride in, but for 95 percent of the whole trip, no kids- just purses and coats- were in it. (You know that if we HADN'T brought it, the kids would have been clamouring for a ride. That's the way it always goes.)

We got to Build A Bear and they were doing a brisk business since everyone was off from school. The kids all had a blast looking around and picking out their bears to stuff. Well, Jack was really more interested in examining everything in the store. Then he got a bit hungry so Judy took him to get a lollipop (and lollipops for all the kids) to hold him over 'til lunch.

Finally it was our turn and each got their bear stuffed, put the heart inside, and air-bathed the animals. Here's a pic of the stuffing action. It is only by the grace of God that a wet, sticky lollipop didn't land squarely on one of the animals.

Then to the really fun part: dressing the bears. Michael and Aidan were all about the costumes: they picked out Superman and Spiderman outfits for their bears. Jenna initially picked out some Christmas gear for her Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer animal, but opted to go for the Build A Bear stroller (or "doellerrr" as she calls it) instead. Michaela picked out a somewhat ugly black pants and tunic outfit for hers and tried to angle for sneakers and ROLLER SKATES (really? ROLLER SKATES for a stuffed animal???) but again, opted for the stroller instead. She also had leftover birthday money to pay for the stroller, lest anyone think I am uneven in my purchases.

Jack, who picked out a dinosaur, first wanted to put on it a hot pink dress with black lace overlay. Honestly. Then Judy swayed him away from that and he got a stroller, too.

After Judy and I got our second mortgages approved to pay for all this paraphernalia, (both of us said at the checkout line, "You got my coupon, right? That's the total WITH the coupon??") we headed out for some lunch. Here's our group shot.

So you notice how there are now three additional strollers with stuffed bears in them and our double stroller. We were quite a spectacle, especially since the two-year olds' stroller steering ability is a bit limited at times. I saw a lot of people walking towards us with more than a glimmer of fear in their eyes.

Anyway, we had a blast... we went downstairs to Friendly's, it was too busy, we went back upstairs to the food court, ate lunch, went back down to Friendly's for ice cream (and parked all the strollers at the door), and then finished off the trip by checking out the animals at the pet store. Whew!! Soon after we got back to the car (by now it was about 4pm), loaded everyone in, and got some Polar Express Soundtrack music on, here were the two little ones:

Thank you, Strauss house, for an awesome day off!!!