grocery shopping

We all got ready to go to church this morning but my grandmother called to forbid us from stepping outside (this is a very typical phone conversation with her these days).  So we obeyed.

Ari talking to great grandma

Well, not exactly...Daniel checked the weather on line and found out it was only 3 degrees out so we thought it best to stay home especially with all of us feeling under the weather with runny noses.  

At dinner time Ari said, "We're gonna go to church!"  I guess she thought we were still going...

Usually we all go grocery shopping together about once a week here.  Things come in rather small portions so we run out of things quickly.  I don't mind it because that means things are fresher.  So this is how grocery shopping's done usually--

 We all get ready--bundle up Ti and put him in the Graco car seat and put him in the foldable stroller.  Get Ari bundled up.  We get ready and we're out the door.  This process takes anywhere between half an hour to an hour.  We walk down the hill and on the main road at the bottom for about 15-20 minutes past several car washing places where you can literally get sprayed if you're not watchful, a dumpster, and numerous smokers.  We arrive at Lotte Mart where it is always CROWDED.  I'm quite good at manuevering through tight spaces so that's not a big problem.  When we're done shopping, Daniel takes Ari and boxes up all our groceries while I nurse Ti in the nursing room.  We sometimes get a fruit drink at the little stand by the boxing stand to celebrate our another chaotic but successful shopping experience.  We walk past a couple of people who try to get us to open a credit card and go downstairs where we flag down a taxi.  Ari usually has had enough by this time and gets quite irritable.  But it's only a short ride so we tolerate.  I tell the driver that he needs to make a U-turn and it's not that far.  The driver starts complaining--about how we could do this to him, etc...  and when we're on our way up the hill through super narrow side roads, he really gets on my nerves.  We give him a good tip (Koreans don't tip usually) for complaining and being so rude the whole way as we get out of the taxi!  It is a mess and a choas but we still like to do all this together because we don't go out much especially these days...

Today, for a change, I took Ari alone.  I ergo-ed her and bundled up well.  As I walked to the store carrying Ari, my bones felt like they were going to freeze!  Good thing I didn't let Ari walk.

She was a great help and it was a pleasant trip.  We even grabed a bite together at a stand there.  The taxi driver wasn't too bad either.  I told Ari what fun it was to go shopping with her and that she is such a great helper!  She soaked it all up, I think, as she smiled and let me hug her tight in the taxi.  We got home and Ari took a nap.  After that, we enjoyed such sweet strawberries...expensive but it was worth it!  We need to load up on fruits and veggies to help fight off this cold!

At dinner time, Daniel was holding Ti while we were all eating.  His arms got tired so he put him down on the floor by his feet.  When Ari realized Ti was out of sight she looked and looked around and asked us where he was.  When she realized he was on the floor, she got so worried and wanted us to pick him right up!  It was such a protective older sister moment!

I wish today won't end and Monday would never come!  Daniel's gone till 7:30 on Mondays. :(

To end with a couple of funny quotes of the day...

Daniel - It smells like popcorn in here!

Me - It's Ti. (Time to change his diaper!)

Ari was whining quite a bit this morning so Daniel said to her, "If you keep whinning, I'll lock you in a wine celler.  You can whine there all day!"