Le Weekend

Phew!  This weekend went by so quickly.  I did not have any extraordinary plans, but I thought I would do a recap...because it is my blog and I can do what I wanna.  ;)

Saturday:

We went to Fairfield, Ohio to Jungle Jims.  When we first moved to Ohio, we lived in Fairfield and we lived in an apartment that was walking distance from this place.  Jungle Jims is an enormous international market. It is pretty much awesome.  If you ever get the opportunity to go, do yourself a favor and go during the week. Going on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon is pretty much enough to help you get one foot closer to going completely crazy, but the weekend is really the only time I can make it there.

This place sells food from all regions of the world.  My favorite section is the large health food section and the produce section.  My kids and husband prefer the variety of candy available in the candy section.  It is just an experience all together.

This photo of Jungle Jim's International Market is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of Jungle Jim's International Market is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This is one shot of the outside, but it doesn't really do it justice.  I borrowed a pic from Trip Advisor, because I did not think to take any outdoors pictures until it was too late.

This photo of Jungle Jim's InternationalMarket is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This is just one wall of the enormous cheese section.  There are cheeses from EVERYWHERE.  Some smelly, some not.  There are always samples available too.

This is the back wall near the international section.  They have little shop fronts for different countries.  There are larger aisles for food too, but this is more for ambiance I think.  There is even a little theatre where you can watch the story of Jungle Jims...if you want...

Approaching the Asian market section.  Lots of great stuff here, for some super yummy Asian cooking.

The giant produce section.  I bought the best strawberries I have ever eaten in my life here last season.

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No trip is complete without watching the Elvis bear perform Jail House Rock in the candy section. Darcy is watching in awe from the cart.

The giant Campbells Soup can.  They swing back and forth and talk.  There are many things like this around the store.

We don't do our regular grocery shopping here, because it is too chaotic on the weekend.  We usually stop by for some specialty items...especially in the vast alcohol section.  I also usually pick up some health food items that are difficult to find in a regular store.  It really is an experience and I recommend it if you are ever in the Cincinnati area.  Even the restrooms are awesome!

The outside looks like port-o-potties, but when you go in, it is a nice, fancy public restroom...nicely decorated and everything.

Sunday:

Sunday was not the best of days.  Sunday sucked, to be frank.  Tim and Aidan went to King's Island and left us girls at home -- which was fine.  I thought it would be a good idea for Darcy and I to go get grocery shopping finished while the boys were out.  I was wrong.  Bad idea, Courtney, bad!

Look at this face:

It is freakin' adorable.  I have a cute kid.  Well, all cuteness went out the window during our shopping trip. While getting the food, she was a little bit of handful, but nothing I could not manage.  She was misbehaving though.  Then we got to check out and all hell broke loose when I told her that she could not have candy because she was not a good girl during the shopping trip.  I am sorry, but I refuse to reward her for bad behavior.  She threw a major tantrum while waiting in line.  She saw I was not budging, and after a lot of screaming, she got over it.  The it is my turn to check out.  She sees the little impossible claw game...you know, the one that no one ever wins that pays out with craptastic stuffed toys?  She wanted to play that and went on to have major tantrum #2 over that.   All of this was bad enough, but then the check out guy, just HAD to put his two cents in.  He went on to give me gems such as this as I was waiting for his slow ass to check me out.  

• "My kid never acts like that."
• "I bet I could calm her down." (No, you can't, sir, because you are scary.)
• "I hate when kids act like this."
• "People are leaving this line, and I bet it is because of your kid." (No, because you are S-L-O-W)
• "You should just give her the money to play the game."
• "You probably should not have brought her to the store.  Leave her home next time."

Meanwhile, he was checking me out so sloooooowly, I just wanted to lose it.  I swear.  So slow.  Then he had to do a price check on something.  I just looked at him and said, "Sir!! Forget it!! I don't need the ground beef that badly!"  He ignored me and continued to be slow.  Then he actually said, "I am working slow today."  REALLY?? I HADN'T NOTICED!!!

Finally he finished, I paid, and I took the walk of shame out of the door with my sobbing kid.  Trying to carry a sobbing 3 year old while pushing a full shopping cart is not easy, by the way.  Kids throw tantrums in public.  It happens and any parent who says it hasn't happened is a liar.  I was just so angry at Mr. Cashier Guy.   She was having a bad day.  She continued to have a bad day for the remainder of the day, and I was never so glad to see bedtime come.  

BUT ON A POSITIVE NOTE...

Tim took Aidan to Kings Island and they rode several roller coasters.  Some of them were big ones that Aidan had not ridden.  Tim asked Aidan if he was scared.  Aidan looked at Tim and said, "No, because I'm a MAN!"   Then, he did this:

Consider this the first flex break on my blog.  I love this kid.  Love both my kids more than life itself.  Aidan just has such a kind, loving, happy spirit.  I am looking at this picture right now and just wanna go upstairs, get him out of bed, and hug him until the cows come home.  

So, yes, that was my weekend.  Starting a new eating plan this week.  Will give all the goods tomorrow!