Teens & toddlers

Earlier today, my sister and I drove into the downtown area of Los Angeles to purchase some goodies for party treat bags. We've trekked through this part of town (the Toy District) for most of my kiddos birthday parties. This year we both were on the hunt for our boys. Her little guy will be five just two weeks before my little guy. lol! He'll be thirteen.

We took my two younger boys and her two toddlers on this little trip. While in the car, my teens had to have their music while my sobrinos had their curious eyes on the road. Each time we would go through an underpass the toddlers would shout- supongo que pensaban que eran viajar a través de un túnel. My sister and I chatted away with all the sounds in the background. Wow! I've forgotten how it is to travel with little ones. Thank goodness I don't live too far from the downtown area.

Nearing our destination, one of my sobrinos kept asking the infamous question- Are we there yet? No baby. No. No! NO! Ay! It doesn't matter how much you try to explain the distance or time of travel, they just keep asking. Surprisingly, they never quite grow out of that phase because, my teens have asked that same question too from time to time on previous trips elsewhere. However, they do have a better range of time and distance.

The Toy District has several blocks of stores that sell toys usually in bulk at whole sale prices or very low prices. We love it there because they have so many choices and often you can haggle the price down a bit. It's not safe there so we always move quickly from one place to another. We get in and we get out within one hour. Folks, that's record time for us- at the mall we spend at least four hours there.

I was surprised that we were able to get everything we needed from there with the little ones on foot. It helped a lot that my boys are older- they helped carry the bags. Afterwords, we headed over to our favorite little fish place, Catch 21. It's a local favorite among the people who work in the downtown area.

Both my sister and I have one picky eater and one good eater (actually I have two good eaters but my eldest was not with us today.) Trying to order something our picky eaters liked was not easy. Fortunately they were hungry enough to finish their plates.

Yep, teens and toddlers are very similar in many ways. They both like to be loud, linger, and have similar eating habits they never quite grow out of. We had a great time. I love spending time with my sister and her little boogers. They remind me so much of my boys when they were their age. As much as it brings me great joy to see them, I am very grateful that my boys are no longer toddlers.

While they are similar they are also different: I don't have to wipe their butts, carry them if they get tired of walking, or worry if they won't eat what I serve them. Oh yes, our conversations are much more engaging too. Oh the joys of teens and toddlers! Gotta love em!!