What a day!

The days that I teach Stroller Strides are always a bit crazy, especially the hours immediately preceding and following the workout. Today was no exception.

The girls- well, Gracie- woke up earlier than usual at about 6 a.m. I was already up with Will. I first heard an "AAAHHHH!", and then the thump of Grace's feet hitting the hardwood floor. I cringed for the next sound I knew I would hear- the whimpering and then full-on cry of Danielle as Grace jumps on her sister and playmate.

Welcome to today.

From that point forward, the whirlwind commenced. I finished feeding Will, got the girls out of their room, helped Dani into a new diaper while bouncing Will's chair with my foot, then helped the girls get dressed and put their hair up. Then came pumping for me, breakfast for them, and soon it was time to run out the door.

The screaming from the girls started at my warmup. Ugh. By the time we got to the first station, the girls were on a full-on wail until about halfway through class. I hated to do this, but I had to pull away the one privledge the girls know that they have to earn by being good on my teaching days- the park. It was just one of those classes....my hope is that the other moms used my screaming kids as an example of how not all kids have perfect days. I know that mine don't!

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" was my mantra!

So, after class, we left. No park. But we did have to run an errand to pick up some food, so to Fresh and Easy we went. I don't know if any of you have seen me grocery shopping with all three kids, but it is pretty funny. I have Grace outside of the cart, Will in the basket, and Danielle is on my back through the use of my amazing Ergo baby. I look like a walking circus, but it works. We get all of our groceries, and as I am putting Dani back in the van, I notice something that made my heart sink....she only had ONE SHOE on!

I asked Dani where her other show was, and her response was a coy "I don't know!" Gracie hadn't seen it, either, which meant that (unless the shoe fell under my van), I left it at the park in Redondo Beach where we finished Stroller Strides. At noon on a Wednesday, that's an almost 30-minute drive!! Arrrggghhh!!!

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

We went back to the park. I prayed the whole way to Saint Anthony for him to help me find the dang shoe, and that I was not wasting even more time by driving someplace that the shoe was not.

I pulled into the parking lot, and there it was- the SHOE!! Right there on the curb, placed neatly with...the HAT that Danielle left there, too!

Just...keep...swimming! ;)