A Full Day's Recap

Reid was eager to help Ben with the bunk bed assembly this morning. He helped take his old bed down and proudly carried the smallest pieces downstairs. We are storing them underneath the guest bed, which we refer to as "Grandpa's bed" and he seemed quite fascinated by the whole process.

Next, he helped Ben carry the smallest pieces (the ladder parts) of his bunk bed inside. Once it was time to build he tried pulling his entire workshop play set into the bedroom. We told him that wasn't going to happen and he quickly ran to the couch to watch hours of TV while Ben and I (but mostly Ben) put the bunk beds together.

While watching TV he pretended to still be a worker helping Daddy.

Notice Nell with her own safety goggles in the background. Silly girl.

The beds were assembled by nap time and Reid was so excited we convinced him to take a nap. What a joy! I went to the Y for a swim and Ben got ready for his (former) regional manager's funeral.

Since Ben was gone to a funeral for a big chunk of the afternoon I decided I'd take the kids up to The Building For Kids and Sam's Club. When we got off the exit in Appleton Reid noted, "We have those signs in Oshkosh Mommy! That pointy sun sign is in our city. Oh and that apple sign too."

Then, he really impressed me when he said "Hey, there's the restaurant we go to at the airport. It has the same happy teddy bear. I like eating at that restaurant in the airport. But we don't have that one in our city. Why doesn't Oshkosh have that place?"

Yes, once a year during our layover in Denver we eat at Panda Express. The things this kid observes and remembers amazes me.

We had fun at the museum, Saturday afternoon is probably the quietest time to be there! I gave them both lots of free range. This felt like the first time Nell was able to play with the exhibits just as well as Reid, and it was really rewarding to watch her explore everything. She especially loved the play food areas. When it was time to go she had to be carried out of the pretend diner.

It would have made more sense to just eat dinner at Sam's Club, but I was really craving some cream of chicken wild rice soup from Panera. I always love Panera, but I love it even more when I am pregnant (all three times). It's a good thing there isn't one in Oshkosh or I'd be broke!

Getting things ordered was a little chaotic because Reid didn't want to stand in line with me, he insisted he go find us a table. I'm all about independence and responsibility so I agreed to let him wander around the restaurant looking for a booth. Problem is, Nell has to follow him wherever he goes. They found us a perfect booth and immediately started fighting. Oh joy.

Once I was able to join them at our table Nell shouted "I poop!" and sure enough it stunk to high heaven. I left Reid at our table while I went to change her. I know he can behave well without me for a few minutes and I know he's safe, but in moments like these I really worry about what people nearby will say or do. It's ridiculous that a mother's real fear isn't having her kid snatched in public, but having someone turn her into the police for quickly changing her toddler's diaper without dragging her preschooler needlessly into the bathroom with her. But that's a side rant.

We enjoyed our dinner and were quickly on our way. As we stood to leave a nice gentleman told me I was a brave mom. I rubbed my third trimester belly and told him I had a craving. It was one of those moments all eyes were on me. We must have been quite the sight in that restaurant, but overall I was really impressed by how well my kids behaved. After their initial fighting I quickly threatened "I haven't ordered yet and we can just leave. Can you handle eating at this restaurant?" and that seemed to suffice. Reid was nearly perfect after that.

We eventually made it to Sam's Club and once again I was impressed with behavior. I told Reid he couldn't ride in the cart because I am unable to lift him and both he and Nell were okay with that. She rode in the cart without him and he walked the whole store with me. He was acting so grown up, spotting samples for us to try and picking out grocery items he thought we needed.

All the checkout lines were rather long and the lady in front of us happened to have a big dump truck on the belt. To avoid letting Reid see it I told him and Nell to go "shake it" near the speaker system. That kept them happy and adorable for ten full minutes. Nell was a little heart broken when shake it time was over and we had to head to the car.

Only, on our way out I noticed they didn't charge me for a beef jerky and my coupon was only good for one box of diapers, not two. So we had to stop at Customer Service to take care of those issues. We got home much later than expected, but lucky for Ben that meant he had time to go for a lengthy run.

Back at home Reid and Ben went to the hardware store to find a touch light to put up by Reid's top bunk, for when he has to climb down and use the bathroom. This gave Nell a chance to have the bathtub all to herself. I think that's a first since she was just 7 or 8 months old. She was loving all the space to lay down and splash in. I couldn't convince her to come out after her washing, which is really unusual. She insisted on waiting till Reid got home for his bath. She was in the water for almost half an hour.

Finally, they both crawled in their new beds and tuckered out.