Girl Date

A few weeks ago I promised our girls I would take them out on a girls-only date to pick out new bathing suits for the summer and buy a little friend of theirs a birthday present.

Friday was the day and we were all really excited for it.
In the days leading up to it I had to field a bunch of their ideas of what else we could also do on our date: buy a dog, see a movie, is Maddie coming with us?, eat at taco bell, eat at Chick-fil-a, eat at Olive Garden,....

The list goes on :)

The three of us decided that Kenna and I would pick Larissa up from school, then we would eat lunch and play at Chick-fil-a, shop for bathing suits and a few summer clothes at Once Upon a Child, then end it with a needed stop at Walmart (in my mind I also added buy them a treat at Walmart and visit the local humane shelter).

I might be the only person in America who isn't crazy about Chick-fil-a.

It is ALWAYS crazy busy, packed, and chaotic with kids and I'm not a huge fan of chicken honestly. 

But this visit we got there a bit after 11 beating the lunch rush (yay!) and I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich which I never had before and loved. 

So it was a win-win for me this time and the girls just always love it.

88 cent pineapple?!

I grabbed several and I wish I had grabbed more. 

After Walmart, the girls thought we were headed home but I surprised them with a long awaited trip to our humane shelter. 

I've been wanting to bring them there for a long time but I knew as soon as we saw some of those babies we'd want to take one home. 

Willing to take that risk, I pulled into the parking lot to see what we could see.

This was one of the dog areas and it was LOUD LOUD LOUD!

Between the smells, sounds, close quarters, and imposing number 

of pitbull breeds it was a pretty overwhelming area. 

Larissa pretty much walked with her hands over her ears the entire time. 

We did come across this adorable little long haired dachshund 

though who I wanted to run out with immediately.  

So timid and lovey. 

I may actually go back and get this baby though.

Like for real. 

I love her.

She was so sweet and affectionate.

Plus a cat for a pet has been on our mind for a bit now. 

Wanted attention....

....wanted nothing to do with us. 

I love my girls. 

They say and do the funniest/weirdest/sweetest/oddest things and it was good for me to take a minute with just them and see that afresh. 

They're at an age where the questions (good ones and also many many many unnecessary ones) are pretty much endless. 

That wears me out. 

I get impatient and snappy and just plain sour. 

During our date, I made a huge effort to engage with them fully. 

I wanted to stay patient with the flood of questions and comments that pour out of their young, hungry brains. 

I don't know if I was 100% successful but we had fun, made a memory or two, and found some pretty adorable bathing suits to wear all summer.