Premium Prices and Sore Legs

Being without a car means I walk a lot every single day.  Even if we stay in all morning (today), by the time an errand arises, we have to venture out into town with a stroller, a carrier, three kids, and good shoes.  It means that my legs are constantly sore, I'm logging in about 6 miles a day of walking, and walk for about an hour a day actively while pushing or carrying children.

Today, we went towards Eastern Market to get some medicine at the nearby pharmacy.  As we stroller back towards a park, we went by some high end baby boutique shops boasting of sales (the sales were not actually good enough to do much more than browse) and then as we meandered about, we found ourselves up in Eastern Market.  I made the decision that it was probably a good time to pick up some produce.  That of course extended into thoughts of do I pay $3 for a bottle of curry powder or chance it and see when our next trip to the grocery store might be?  Do I buy the $2 lemonade and $2 danish so we have something sweet to nibble on besides the chips we brought with us?  And the answer to that and more similar questions was, sure why not.  Living in the City can be expensive quickly, mostly because we end up paying more to shop locally or in small emergency needs shops (where a gallon of milk is a whopping $6!) but even the grocery stores we can walk to are still in the City and therefore still not that much cheaper.  City living is definitely different than anything I've ever experienced!

A week in, we've got a bit of a routine going on which helps the time pass a lot quicker.  The kids are adjusting quite well, meanwhile Andy and I are still extremely fatigued and going to sleep complaining of our old sore bodies not accustomed to the more rigorous active lifestyle of walking everywhere.

The kids normally enjoy the morning starting at 6:30 AM, something we hope will drastically be pushed back once Spring Forward time change arrives.  After Andy leaves us for work, we eat breakfast, get dressed, load the dishwasher, tidy up the dining table and either make our way out for a morning meet-up with friends or get ready for homeschooling fun.  

We got consumed with making our Disneyworld t-shirts yesterday, so we didn't make it out until 2 PM.  The boys enjoyed scooter time in our cement backyard and Dagny was able to nap before we made our way out.  Jordan has told me a number of times that he misses all his toys.  Though him and Bubba have been quite good with the limited number of toys we brought along, he was attached to this rocket we saw at the high-end baby boutique almost immediately.  It was unfortunately too expensive and too big, but we took a photo so we could show Andy and Bubba (who naps everytime we head out for an afternoon stroll).

but mom, I really want this toy to play with...

Dagny can say a number of things, one of which is, "I want chips," because she is obsessed with chip bags.  Give her a bag, and she will sit and munch quietly for about 20 minutes before she stands up in the stroller and tries to escape. She is a fierce, fearless, and feisty one, still small in size but very capable as a 16 month old walker.  We've been at parks when a lot of older 5-8 year olds have been around, and she remains unfazed, eager to get onto the big kids' slide.  The older kids will normally make a huge deal out of the fact that a "baby" is over here, but she gets on her tummy, slides down, and then goes back for more.  

The prices for pretty much everything are steep here, there aren't any restrooms at any of the parks (as we have unfortunately learned), and our bodies are still adjusting, but it is one great adventure that we are all loving.