Ideal vs. reality

I thought I had an ideal family night planned for us last night. We had a Groupon to use at 84 East in Holland, so I thought we could go there for dinner, take a walk out to the pier to watch the boats and get ice cream on the way home. It sounded like a fun family summer night to me! Well, an ideal night suddenly turns into reality when you're dealing with a 3 yr. old. He spent our time at 84 East refusing to eat his dinner, jumping up and down in the booth and complaining that his stomach hurt. We told him that since his stomach hurt and since he didn't eat his dinner, he wasn't going to get ice cream (this would set in later in the evening). Once we escaped dinner before ruining everyone else's dinner experience that night, we took a walk out to the pier (after driving to the beach first!). Kaden loved seeing everyone fish and all of the boats going in and out of the channel. Then, he decided that he wanted to go in the water, which we told him we could come back and do another time. He wanted to go in the sand, yet didn't want to get his feet dirty...another issue. He finally decided to step in the sand and we let him run around for a few minutes. Once we told him we were leaving, he refused to put his shoes on and Andy had to carry a screaming child back to the car. I wasn't going to let Kaden ruin my ice cream experience, so we stopped for ice cream and I returned to the car with 2 ice cream cones- one for me, and one for Andy. Kaden, of course, asked where his was, and with tears in his eyes looked at me in disbelief. Mom- how could you not get me an ice cream cone?!? I offered him his chicken nugget from dinner, which to my surprise, he actually ate.

He calmed down on the ride home and I made him an ice cream cone when we got home since he ate his dinner leftovers in the car. It was still a fun night, but definitely not the ideal family night I had in mind. Andy and I agreed that next time maybe we'll get a babysitter and enjoy the evening a bit more! :) But, as all of you know... the reality is... each kid, as great and cute as they can be, has their moments. This was one of our sweet child's.

Looking at the boats with Daddy

On the beach with Mommy

Playing in the sand