this morning magnificent and i were awoken at the relatively rude hour of 6.15am. jj was sporting a 20 pound nappy and needed to express his anguish. his sisters (muses?) took up the lament and soon sebastian was awake as well.

once breakfast was underway for the triumverate, mc decided to go for a run and i offered to take sebastian for a walk to the area where magchar would finish his run. it was a lovely misty morning, not oppressively humid like the last few have been, and even though he would have preferred it if his dad was taking him, seb thought the walk would be fun.

the skies looked ominous, so we took his little umbrella and were off. we had a fun walk, and stopped to look at snails and discuss how their shells protect them and are their houses as well. we splashed in puddles and discussed how water is sometimes found underneath bridges.

at one point sebastian got rather wet and afterwards decided he wanted to be carried. i declined the offer. soon we were on flat and paved terrain, and we stopped to look at a chained fence and discuss why it was locked. a light rain began and i snapped open seb’s little umbrella, but we didn’t use it for long and the drizzle ceased almost immediately.

some dogs were being walked and after asking permission and letting the doggies smell his hand, sebastian petted them. he also held a leash, which made him feel very important, apparently. then a sweaty magnificent ran to us, and we walked to look at the koi fish and turtles in the reservior. we named all the turtles then headed back home.

after a small breakfast on the terrace, we decided to get groceries. our vehicle’s radiator split last night so our activity options for the day were severely reduced. we compiled a quick grocery list, grabbed all the kids, reminded sebastian to do one last wee-wee, headed outside, hailed a taxi, and were off to our local grocers, park & shop.

it was less hassle than we would have thought, mainly because we didnt bring diaper bags. we figured any emergency supplies we needed could be purchased at park and shop, so we got lazy. once there, we greeted the ladies at the cashier, who have all been there a while and know our family, and put jj, cee cee and lu-lu (when did my family come to this?) in one cart while sebastian opted to run alongside, get ready for this, his grocery cart wielding dad. surprised?

taking the babies out can be a mixed blessing at times. one "better you than me" can irritate me. but today everyone we ran into was so pleasant, it was just a joy to be out. i didn’t have to say, "better full hands than empty ones" ONCE.

however, my hands are not the only full ones. the babies are enjoying being able to lean out of the cart and pluck at random items that take their interest. at one point when i paused to look at toothbrushes, jasper took the opportunity to grab a box of tampons (slimfit) from the shelf and start chewing on the corner of the box. thank goodness they are individually wrapped in plastic containers. carys was extra active (and refused to sit down i should add) and showed a fondness for household cleaning items, while sela started squealing when she saw the bananas and grabbed on to the bin they were displayed in.

sebastian was very good, he only asked for one thing: a book with mr incredible on the cover. i explained to him that the book was in chinese and he decided he didn’t need it anymore.

not having a car at our disposal was no worry, we had a good family saturday. hopefully our luck will last over the weekend.