shopping day

Over Christmas while we were in Arkansas, we ate at Cracker Barrel with Kyle's family.  This is a normal Sunday tradition for them, and it was a nice time and a nice meal.  But, for whatever reason, the stars were aligned and that breakfast was the best thing I'd ever had.  When we got back to Boston, I actually thought about it a lot.  Specifically, grits.  I supposed you could call it a craving, but it was really more of a pre-occupation.  I really wanted grits and all the other yummy breakfast stuff.  And, considering that I'm not usually a big breakfast person - it was noteworthy.  

Well, some friends informed me that there's a Cracker Barrel just under an hour away from where we live.  Another friend pointed out that it's right by an outlet mall and suggested we all make a day of it.  

Kyle is at a conference, so it was good timing.  One of my friends ended up having to stay home with her sick daughter, but my friend Kelly and I enjoyed a fun little day trip yesterday.

When Kelly came over, she surprised Abby with some presents.  A red pinwheel and a new purse (What's a girl's shopping day without a new purse?)

Ready to hit the road

Upon further inspection, Abby found another surprise in her purse - a whole dollar for her to spend on whatever her heart desired today.  :)  Here's the sad part...Abby didn't really know what it was.  In thinking about it, she's probably only seen dollar bills at church when we give her one for the offering plate.  I held up a quarter and asked her what it was and she said "money!"  I held up my credit card and asked her what it was and she said "pay for it!" I pointed to the dollar and asked her what it was, and she just stared at me.  I, obviously, don't use a lot of cash.  Ha.  So, we spent a few minutes explaining that a dollar is like a card and you use it to "pay for it" too.

Kelly snapped this shot with her phone

We hit the road and found Cracker Barrel easily.  I was pretty excited.  It was kinda weird though - to be in a place that I associate so strongly with the south and with Conway, but to be here.

Abs loved playing with the pegs - but got a little upset when she didn't have a peg for every hole (one is supposed to be left empty)  She kept telling me she lost a peg and couldn't find it. 

Then our food came. Yum.  And, yes, I ate all my food.  Duh.

Kelly, excited about pancakes

After our meal, I let Abby shop.  She didn't really hesitate.  She walked right up to a big jar of lollipops, stood up on her tiptoes and reached out her hand saying "I want the red one!"  It was perfect.  I gave her her dollar and her red lollipop and told her she could go buy it all by herself.  I sat her on the counter and the cashier was very nice and made a big fuss over Abby's first solo purchase.

Abs was pretty pleased with herself.  She gave the dollar, got her change back and said "I pay for it!"

Next? Shopping!

The only downside to yesterday was that it was cold.  In the 30s.  It was otherwise beautiful, which was good.  Cold is always easier to deal with on sunny days.  Here's Abs all bundled up ready for shopping.  This picture makes me laugh - she's so serious.

Anyway, we spent several hours shopping.  It was fun.  At the end of the day, I hadn't actually bought anything.  I'm funny like that - I get really indecisive about spending money sometimes - but we all had a nice time and I really did enjoy looking through all the stores.  We left the outlets around 1:45 and Abs was all but asleep in her stroller.  Like clockwork, she is.  We got back in the car and she was OUT, nearly instantly.

Kelly and I decided we wanted ice cream, so we detoured and found a cold stone creamery.  Abs woke up, so we just al went in.  Yum.  There was a toy store next door, so I let Abs walk through and pick out a toy.  She got a funny little squishy ball thing that she was pretty excited about.  After that, we all headed home.  We said bye to Kelly and took it easy for the rest of the evening.

I decided that it was too late for Abs to nap by the time we got home.  We played for a while, and I noticed that Abs was acting a little off.  I felt her and she was definitely warm.  Before long, her eyes got that heavy eye-lid glazed look, and it was clear she had a fever.  :(

I decided that some low-key snuggle time was in order and I dug through my DVDs to find one that I thought Abby might enjoy.  We've never sat her down to watch a movie before.  I didn't know if she'd make it through the whole thing or not, but she seemed excited about the idea of "a movie with mommy and popcorn"  So, that's just what we did.

Abs and I snuggled in on the couch under a pile of blankets with our bowls of popcorn and drinks.  It didn't take too long before she had her head resting on my belly and I was just stroking her warm little head and back.  

Of course, as soon as Nemo's mom was gone in the first part of the movie, Abby sits up and says "Where did nemo's mommy go?  Where is she?"  Sigh.  I didn't really expect her to be paying attention to the movie.  I took the easy way out though and just gave a generic "oh, she's not here anymore - Look! They're going to school!  Look at the colors, so pretty."  And she was satisified with that.  

We watched all but the last 15 mins or so of the movie.  At that point, she was getting really sleepy and a little restless and I wanted her to get to bed on time(ish).  So, I gave her some medicine and read her some books.  I held her and rubbed her back and she fell asleep on me.  It was sweet.  I put her in bed and tucked her in with her barely waking up - first time I've put her down to bed alseep in as long as I can remember. Sweet girl.  

So.  It was a great day.  Even though Abs ended up not feeling well.  She seems in good spirits this morning though and I know she'll be fine.  Thanks Kelly for making the day that much more special for Abs and extra fun for me. :)