Crazy shopping day

J left yesterday morning for 2 weeks in Fort Huachuca, so the kids and I did what we usually do when daddy leaves and spend as much of the day out of the house as possible... For some reason, I am reluctant to go home the day my husband leaves. Not the greatest coping technique for the bank account, but everyone was tired and went straight to bed after a full day at the Carousel Center mall in Syracuse! We haven't been to an actual indoor mall in over a year (I do miss the outdoor shopping areas in KC!) and this is a huge one which they are making bigger... Anyway, they had a lot of great shops and we hit the arcade for a while and we rode the carousel and had a late lunch (I usually go to a sit down place when I have all the kids by myself instead of trying to juggle food court and 4 kids and crowds!) then hit a couple of more shops and finally home. The kids did great except for a little bit of whining from BG. "We've been here for hours and hours, can we go home now?" Easily appeased by the Disney Store... LG and LB took a nap and looked so cute sleeping side by side in the new stroller, which I really hate (the stroller, not that they looked cute). I'm really missing my old Duo-glider. Yeah, it was long and heavy, but still easier to manuever through doors and aisles and I didn't feel like such a wide-load. I think I'll get some signs and flashers for BB and BG and have them walk in front and back to warn people we're coming through! My friend just posted her thoughts on big families and there's nothing like a trip to a crowded mall to drive it home...

Here are a few of the things we heard:

"Are those all yours?" increduously (all those what?) (sometimes I want to look around before answering that one)
"1,2,3,4, wow!" (oh, good you can count)
"You've got your hands full" (by far the most popular comment)
"Wow, you've got my respect" (dad w/ one child)
"You must be big helpers" (to Will and Izzy, 'cause your mom is surely demented and couldn't possible handle all of you herself...")
"I don't know how you do it" (How would I not do it)
"Are you done?" (with what?) yes, strangers really ask!
"You poor thing" (as if 4 beautiful children are something to pity)
"I've got one two year old, I can't imagine two!" (I try not to imagine too much, reality is enough!)
and my favorite "You have a beautiful family" (they must have been being good, 'cause the guy sitting next to us in the restaurant said that and then he pointed out that Rohan had milk on his forehead!)

I'm not sure why people feel they have to comment on the size of our family and I thought I would get used to it after having twins and the attention they got every time we went out. I would never think of saying to someone "Oh, you only have one child, you poor thing, how do you deal with all of your free time?" or something equally invasive. By and large, most people are just trying to be friendly, but I feel like my kids are going to start thinking they're wierd because they get so much attention for being in a 'large' family. I come from a family of six kids and my sister has six (which is small in her community!) so four kids just doesn't seem excessive (not that I'm looking for more!). Anyway, we're happy with all four of them and wouldn't trade them for anything, I could just do with a little less attention! Ok, I'll stop complaining...