5 Kids and a grocery store

So today was my first solo attempt at grocery shopping/shoe shopping with all the kids. It was interesting. And by interesting, I mean harder than I expected.

I have come to the realization that my biggest hurdle is just getting in the store with all 5 kids, 3 of whom can't walk. You know how you always park as close as you can to the door? Forget that. I will park as close as possible to a cart corral with carts in it.

My plan of action is to park as close to a cart as possible, put Truitt in the snuggly, grab Moyz and Kembia through the back hatch of the van. I know, it sounds terrible, but Ava sits between the two, and it is much easier to get them out the back then climb through the van twice to pull them out. I load Kembia into the front part of the cart since she is the littlest/most fragile, and Moyz has to sit in the basket of the cart. If there is one of those honkin' carts that have room for two kids in that special section in front of the cart, we switch to that once inside. I have no idea what I am going to do if I pull into a parking lot and there are no carts outside! Panic probably! I do have the double stroller, but I don't really want to load up the double stroller just to haul kids inside and then have a stroller and a cart. I don't have enough hands for that!

Once we actually got into the grocery store I discovered that it is quite hard to push a cart full of kids, hold onto a little one hanging from me and load food into the cart. There were a lot of stares, and one little old lady who asked me if I was babysitting.

Then there were the free cookies for all kids under 12. I felt a little bad taking 4in one fell swoop (since Truitt doesn't eat cookies yet!). Ava is just excited because she gets free cookies for another 4 years. A fact which she likes to point out on a regular basis. And then there is my sweet 15 pound baby girl, Kembia, who bit Moyz on the arm 3 times because he tried to steal her cookie. That tiny little body is definitely hiding a power punch behind it.

Then we passed by my one big vice- Coke, and I loaded up the cart because we have been out for quite some time. And Ava proceeded to tell me that I better be drinking lots of it so I can have energy to stay awake with all of my kids. Sometimes I swear she is like a little adult.

In the end, I forgot bread, but there is no way I am going back for awhile. Chris will have to pick that up on his way home. Normally, I would just make some, but I have no time right now. I still can't keep my house clean! And the laundry, don't get me started!