Not-so "Grand" Theft Auto

Our busy day ended with all my handsome guys getting their hair cut.
It was the twins' first ever! No more curls for Ethan!

Yesterday was a day filled with fun and adventure for three very special little boys. Our day started out at Mickey D's, climbing and crawling through the play equipment awaiting Daddy's phone call that he was ready to be picked up from the doctor.

From there, we stopped by the MVA "real quick." No such luck! Upon hearing that the wait would be anywhere from 1 -3 hours, (ended up being closer to 31/2) the boys and I left Daddy to wait once again, and headed out on the town. The trick was to find fun things to do to keep them occupied, yet close enough to the MVA to pick David up as soon as he called. We went to a couple of different parks, shopped in Target, (where we splurged on this awesome wadding pool, and all the little toys and trinkets to go with it),

and then ended up at this darling little toy store in Bel Air called Tiddlywinks. The boys were eager to redeem their free jelly bean coupon, given as incentive to complete the library's summer reading program. (Yes, the little ones can participate, they only have to be read to!)

It was our first visit into the new little store, and the four of us just stood in awe for a moment before the boys ran of to explore the glorious playroom awaiting them in the back. http://www.tiddlywinkstoys.com/

The minutes flew by in that exotic realm of new and exciting play-things, so much so, that we felt as if we had just entered when we received that long awaited ring of the cell phone. It was David. It was time to go! Not willing to make my beloved wait any longer, I said thank you to the store owner for the jelly beans, and quickly buckled the boys in the stroller, all while super Kaleb was on super fast clean-up duty.

Imagine my horror when, upon returning home, I opened the candy bag to find a tiny plastic car! Kaleb was immediately questioned, and admitted to seeing the car at the store, but he did not take it. Apparently, it was wrapped tightly in one of the twin's little fist as we were doing our lighting-fast dash out of the store.

Nothing in me wanted to return to that store today. It is located right on main street, and I oh-so loathe parallel parking. However, try as I might to justify keeping the trivial trinket, my conscience wouldn't let me pass over this important learning opportunity. So I let out a deep sigh, and picked up the phone to let them know we were on our way. The boys and I had a long talk about the importance of not taking things that don't belong to us, and I realized that because of this little inconvenience, we may have been able to instill a lesson that will prevent one of them from deciding to purposefully steal something shiny one day when they are older. For this blessed opportunity, I am truly thankful. I realize that it is the little things such as this that make my life truly blessed beyond measure.