A DAY OF SHOPPING

For those who don't already know Emma, let me tell you that she is a very bubbly, busy girl. She's got personality. She is playful, energetic, ALWAYS ON THE GO.
When in large buildings, Emma usually gets OVERSTIMULATED. I must admit she has somewhat slowed down in the last year. But people who meet us still tell me, Wow, she is busy... I wonder why???
While on vacation, walking in a restaurant, Emma was really loud. You have to understand, we've been in the car for many, many hours. As I took her to the bathroom for a quazillion diaper change, I told her we were going to have supper and that we should be QUIET. She behaved so wonderfully throughout the whole meal, I thought I was on to someting...
Back home, I decided that Emma and I would go on outings more and more often. So while Amy and her boyfriend Jesse had their day full with piling wood than go-karting with Carl, as a reward, I set out with Emma to do the school supply shopping...
First stop, the school supplies store. She sat in the cart the whole time. I was offering her choices as to which pencil sharpener she wanted, BLUE or RED. She said red. Okay. Then, said blue. I turned around, got the 2 colors again and asked her one more time which one she wanted, she said blue, so blue it was. And so on. She chose pencils, erasers, even binders for her sister!
So far so good... We were now headed to my favorite Thrift shop, a place I haven't been to in quite a while. We were going to look for clothes for Emma.
Again, she sat in the cart the whole time. I was amazed at how nice the clothes were for children. So I kept putting stuff in our cart until it was quite full. Emma would sometimes put stuff in too. And I was putting it back as best as I could.
Then I thought she should at least try on the pants because Emma is a bit bulky at the waist. Don't get me wrong. She is far from being fat. It's just that she is short and that makes it hard to choose the right size in pants. I had sizes from 6 to 10...
We entered the change room, with the cart, and set out to try on at least the pants. One, two, three, four, and, so on... Emma kept on trying pieces. She was looking at herself in the miror and was saying either NICE, CUTE, or BEAUTIFUL. And if I told her she looked beautiful, she would tell me THANK YOU. So we kept on trying, and trying. I felt that at any moment she would have enough, any child would. I was kneeling the whole time. I was sweating from being restrained to such a small area. But hey, we had a thing going on, I wasn't about to stop.
I simply could not believe it. She tried everything there was in that cart. At one point, I saw a jean jacket I knew I had not chosen. She must have put it in the cart. So she tried it on too. WoW, she looked so grown up. Of course we had to buy it. And we only discarded 3 items...
Emma has learned a new word: SHOPPING.
Believe it or not, we bought 14 shirts, 8 pants, 3 p.j.'s, 1 dress, 1 skirt, l jean jacket, 1 hoodie, 1 pair of shoes and, yes, a Halloween costume! Emma had tried on at least 33 pieces of clothing!!!
The whole experience cost me 120.00$ Back at home, my husband thought I had gone mad. Hey, how much clothes would she have gotten at a regular store??? I cleaned her dresser and threw out all the stained stuff. Yes, Emma is ready for school. And, yes, I shall go out with my girl more often. We had so much fun. There was no chasing her around, there was no noodle flops on the floor, there was no yelling or whinning. Hey, she even said the whole alphabet to a staff member.
Yes, Emma, we shall go SHOPPING again togerther, soon...And thank you for such a fun day!!!

OUR SUMMER VACATION

We're back from beautiful P.E.I. Our one week trip was just awesome. First of all, travelling with Emma is simply a joy. Just keep the chocolate milk flowing and Emma is happy; mom too, as long as we stop often enough to change diapers... We had music for everyone. From Arlo Gutrie to Willie Nelson. From "Bad to the bone" to "Puff, the magic Dragon". From Queen to Raffi, it was a long musical drive.
First thing we did on the Island was head to the Joy Riders, therapeutic Riding Stable. Emma was treated like a queen. She enjoyed a beautiful ride on the P.E.I. red earth. It was very special for me that Emma too, also had plans of her own. Carl went deep sea fishing. Amy and Jesse went kayaking, go karting, trail riding. I enjoyed browsing in the numerous craft shops.

We all enjoyed the ocean, especially Emma. She loved watching the waves rolling in, yelled GO as they arrived close to her and jumped over or through them. Emma also rode at a "regular stable" while big sis and her boyfriend were on a trail...On our last evening on the Island, Amy and Jesse babysat Emma so Carl and I could have a nice seafood supper on a terrasse by the ocean. LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Coming back, we slowly drove through New Brunswick. We visited a few attractions, bought sea food, drove along the scenic shoreline. The plan was to make it to Quebec by suppertime, and, find a motel. Plans often do not become reality. By 8:00 p.m., we reached the first City in Quebec. There was not one room available. We had supper and kept going to the next town. NO VACANCY. The the next town. NO VACANCY. Somewhere along the way, Carl said we were wasting precious time looking for a hotel. If we kept going, we'd be home by 5:oo the next morning... Whoa, I said. Surely, we'll find something. NO VACANCY. Emma fell asleep at around 11:30 p.m. Every time we stopped, she would wake up and say something like: "Bathing suit, the beach" and go back to bed. We laughed so much. Once, she woke up and said her favorite swear word: J-C. I could not believe what I was hearing.!!!

My husband is always right. We were home by 5:00. I had stayed awake the whole time for fear he would fall asleep. He would not let me drive. My fear now was that Emma had slept enough and would want to stay up. Oh God, what would I do? But no, I changed a quazillion diaper and took her with me in my bed and we slept a blissful 4 hours!!!
Before we left, a lot of people were asking me what I was planning for myself during our vacation, and for me, the happiness my family brings to me is all I really need. The interaction with Amy's boyfriend and Carl. Everyone's sense of humor. Hum, my snoring, even though I still say it is Carl who snores, Amy's WHITE legs at the beach, Emma's Hi, my name is Emma to each and every stranger she met. Every moment was a joy!!!