We left the house at 10am, after spending an hour or so getting ready -- packing up everything the twins could possibly need (plus more), filling the back of the car with recycling (and the double stroller), changing diapers (and again). We filled the gas tank and were officially on the road at 10:07. A little over 2 hours and exactly 142 miles later we found ourselves at the Bed Bath & Beyond in Canoga Park.
You know, it's a nice store, but 142 miles? We bought two boards with rows of hooks on them, one for the entryway and one for the bedroom. Next door was a Carters store, where I spent almost $100 on sleepers and shirts and socks for the little ones.
We had lunch at a Coco's. The babies ate pancakes, scrambled eggs, and fruit. Rocket Boy and I both had quiche. The waitress was very nice, gave us lots of napkins and generally seemed to know what we would need.
Shopping trips always seem to include visits to family and friends, just as visits to family and friends always include shopping. It just seems like we can't drive that far just to go to a couple of stores/can't drive that far and NOT go to a couple of stores. Next stop was our friend Chris's new house. Chris and his wife were not home, they were on vacation, but we wanted to see their house. It took us a while to find it. RB got out of the car and knocked on the door, just for show. Then we visited Cousin June and her family, and spent a couple of hours there.
Then it was off to the Whole Foods in Northridge, which we eventually tracked down after quite a bit of wandering. I bought 4 boxes of my favorite cereal, a jug of Planet laundry detergent, grapes, muffins, and a few other little things. Unfortunately they were not accepting any recycling other than CRV items, so we had to bring all our recycling home with us (should have put it in Cousin June's bin, but forgot).
By then it was past 6pm. We got on the highway and drove for an hour to Lancaster, where we found a Carrow's (which is almost identical to Coco's). By now it was after 7pm, and I had the idea that we needed to eat dinner. Baby B had fallen asleep in the car and we had to wake him up. We carried the babies into the restaurant, got them settled in high chairs. They both began to cry. We ordered dinner, which took ages to arrive. The waitstaff were not helpful. To pass the time I took Baby A to the restroom and changed his diaper (no changing table, so I did this on the floor), took Baby B on a walk around the restaurant, and finally knelt on the floor between their two highchairs, put my hands on their backs and begged them to stop crying. The restaurant was not crowded, but there was a woman, eating alone, seated very near us, and a couple on the other side of the room. The food arrived: an omelet for RB, a turkey sandwich for me, chicken nuggets and fruit for the babies. The babies ate some grapes, Baby B ate some of my turkey and a couple of my fries. My turkey sandwich was on a croissant. Every time I took a bite, the entire contents of the sandwich fell out. Over and over I put the turkey, cheese, avocado, lettuce, and tomato, back inside the croissant and took another bite. Blurp went the contents onto my plate. Baby A threw some chicken on the floor. I sat there eating french fries, wondering if we would ever get home.
We made it home by 9:30pm and put the babies to bed immediately. Baby A cried as if his heart would break, but we couldn't figure out why.
Living in Ridgecrest, one often finds oneself posing the question: is shopping worth it?
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