An eventful evening

I'll give the highlights first if you don't want to read the whole post.

1. My kids like to cry in vehicles
2. I let my daughter fall through a stroller (father of the year?)
3. Riley peed on the living room carpet (picture at the end)

Alicia asked me earlier today if we could go to the mall tonight. I thought it might be kind of fun to leave our house for something other than going to work. So after I got home from work we (and by we I mean Alicia) got the kids ready to go and loaded the minivan.

Our first stop was McDonald's. Alicia asked if we should go in or to the drive-thru. I thought it would be easier to leave the kids in the car instead of unloading and loading again. I am sure the McDonald's employee loved the sound of Riley and Quinn screaming in the background while I was trying to order. Alicia was trying to feed pasta to Riley but she just kept dropping it. Quinn still just hates being in his car seat. So we ordered, got our food and continued. Alicia moved to the back seat to feed Riley and give Quinn a bottle at the same time. I think she ate her food too. I ate mine while I drove and texted and made faces at Riley in the rear view mirror.

Alicia asked me before we left our house if I could adjust the straps on our double stroller so they would be high enough for Riley. I thought it would be ok so I ignored her. Once we got to the mall and parked I realized it might have been a good idea after all. I snapped Quinn's car seat into the stroller as he continued to scream and took off, leaving Alicia and Riley behind. I walked as if I were in a stroller pushing race. Alicia said I was at the door to the mall before she even had Riley out of the van. I just wanted to get the screaming child out of his car seat.

Once inside Alicia asked me to adjust the straps on the stroller. I couldn't figure it out partially because I had to keep chasing Riley who just wanted to walk everywhere except where we were. I finally just gave up and tried to put her in the front of the stroller without strapping her in. I turned away and instantly Riley fell right through the bottom of the stroller. I guess those straps are important after all. After Riley screamed for a couple minutes, Alicia just carried her and we put Quinn in the car seat part of the stroller and went to the elevator. We walked into the elevator and Quinn started screaming. The door opened and we started to walk out but realized we hadn't gone anywhere. Apparently you have to push a button to make the elevator go up once you're inside. So we went up. I carried Quinn and pushed a double stroller while Alicia carried Riley. We found a place to sit and Alicia figured out the stroller straps. Now happily strapped in, Riley smiled and kicked the rest of our time at the mall. We took a lap around with a short stop at the bookstore so Riley could play. We left around 7 because we are not cool enough to be at the mall past 7.

When we got home Alicia laid Riley on the living room floor to change her diaper. Once the diaper was off Riley rolled over and escaped. So naked Riley ran around the house for a couple minutes. Then Alicia said, "Oh no. She's peeing!" I looked up to find a line of urine on the carpet and Riley standing next to Quinn flashing her naked booty at me. I had to take a quick picture. That's what my life is. And I love it.

Mark