72 hour kit and Babies R Us

The sunshine was so nice today! We went on a walk in little downtown Plano after Jake got home from work. The shops were closed, but it was still a fun mini outing.
This picture is fuzzy and dark, but I really like the expression in it.

We put together 72 hour kit meals last year with our ward, and it's definitely time to switch them out. So, we decided to eat the meals as directed for three days. This hasn't been my favorite decision we've ever made. We need to switch stuff out and I'm not about to let everything go to waste, but after our ramen dinner with crackers and juice last night, the expired nuts and cocoa for breakfast, and the canned chicken, pudding and applesauce for lunch, 72 hours can't pass fast enough. Now, this would be just fine if we HAD to live off this stuff, but since we have other options, the stale food doesn't exactly hit the spot. We decided to go out to get sandwiches tonight since we'd saved money from the last few meals and to lessen the blah of the next few. We're such pansies.
Babies R Us had a sale on tennis shoes (2 for $12!), so Tessa and I went the other day to get her some to grow into. Tessa was getting annoyed with me because I take forever when I shop. (Just ask Jake. I stare, compare, analyze, discuss, and stare some more before I make a decision.) She was sick of staring at the shoes with me and vocally let me know. So finally I start to head toward the front of the store when I'm stopped by a guy who works at the Kiddie Kandids photography studio in the store. He says that he's training and needs a little practice taking pictures. He asks if we wouldn't mind helping him out for about 15 minutes. Well, my thoughts on kiddy photographers were tainted from my last experience, so I didn't know if he was just trying to pull something to get me to buy pictures. I agreed to go with him, ready to stand my ground. He had me pick out a background and put my grumpy and hungry child up on the platform. Her hair was sticking up every which way, and she had chewed crackers smeared all over the front of her shirt. Yes, we go to the store this way. I'm sure I looked just like she did. This guy did EVERYTHING he could to get Tessa to smile except cartwheels. She tried to hit him once. But the thing is, he tried --for a long time. Finally he asked for my help, and I grabbed a rubber ducky on the shelf which sent Tessa into a small bout of smiling and quacking. He took her pictures, and then took me over to the monitor. He asked which 8x10 I would like. Whoa, whoa, whoa, sailor. I don't want to buy anything. It's free? Ohhhhhh. So I picked the one where you couldn't see her hair sticking up in the back quite so badly. The picture printed up in a few minutes while we were purchasing the shoes, and then we were outta there. I was impressed. I think we may go the Kiddie Kandids route next time. Even if they can't spell candid. I don't think the guy was new like he said, but I do think he wanted to get a new potential customer. It worked. Here's the picture. The color and lighting aren't the best because it's a picture of the picture, and there were huge white cracks in the background which I wouldn't be okay with if I had to pay for it, but it was free.

Fun stuff to look forward to: holidays (I am working on those tradition ideas), San Antonio cheap o rama vacation at the KOA, my mom coming for Easter weekend, and two weeks of summer vacation in Utah. There are some fun little things in between, but those are the biggies.