The stroller that is no more

Forgive me for my lack of posting. I'm stuck at home sick, with a whining sick husband, a sick toddler and a destructive one year old. With out further ado I present the story of the stroller that is no more.

I have a lot of strollers. My favorite stroller is my Jeep jogging stroller. However, it is a little bulky for my trunk so I purchased one of those junky umbrella strollers because it was the smallest thing I could put in my car. That broke so I went looking for something else. I bought this Baby Trend. It folded small, had trays and a nice compartment under it. I used it for a long time. After Codi was born I decided to look for something small that would fit in Robs Honda trunk. I purchased this Graco (in brown). That stroller was the worst ever. The seat didn't sit up all the way and the wheels kept locking up. I received a free cheap umbrella stroller and we used that instead. I had always wanted a double stroller but for one reason or another I didn't buy one. I would tell myself, "I made it this far with out one I don't need it." Of course then I would encounter another moment where I found myself cursing my idiot self for not buying the fucking stroller. Once I went to the store and had it in the cart and everything but couldn't do it because I thought it was too much money to spend on a stroller that I probably would never use anyway. That very night I found myself at Hot August Nights with two kids and only one stroller. Like always my three year old was crying that he was tired and he wanted in the stroller. How about the time I found myself on a walk around the mountain with Codi in the stroller and Brandon tired and whining to get in. He wanted in so bad in fact that the poor little guy ended up trying to climb in the little basket underneath and ride down the hill. In the end Ginger had to tempt him with a race to get him down the hill with out screaming. Again, I stood there kicking myself for not buying a double stroller, alas, I stuck with my cheap ones and told myself I would definitely not need one after this.

A few weeks ago my mom, a friend and I went to Scheels to do some shopping. We took Robs car which meant we were stuck with the shitty umbrella stroller. Halfway through the shopping trip the stroller stopped working. The wheels wouldn't spin we were having to shove it across the floor etc. It was a pain. My mom and I decided I was going to throw it away as soon as I got home. It was a good stroller, it lasted a while but it was done. I threw it away and went out and bought a new $19.99 umbrella stroller. I came home and promptly got in trouble by my husband because we are supposed to discuss purchases with each other. The next day I returned it. Because I had written a check I was given a gift card, that Codi actually dumped out of my purse later that month along with a $100.00 check. I found it funny that after all that with Rob, we were still out the $20.00 anyway. This left us with my beloved Jeep stroller, the nice one that folded small but worked wonky, and the shitty Graco that both kids hated.

Last week when we decided to fly to Vegas I decided we needed two strollers since we would be walking the strip and what not. The Jeep one would be too big in the car so we took the two shitty ones. The second we arrived at the airport I knew this would be a problem as one of the strollers wouldn't move. We pushed on and continued anyway. The whole trip was a constant struggle. We found ourselves arguing over who had to push the shitty stroller, and the kids fought over who got to sit in the one that at least sat all the way up with out having to lay down.

Our second to last day there we went to the outlet malls. My dad got stuck pushing the shitty stroller with faulty wheels. He grumbled about it the entire time a lot of threatening to smash it into walls or just leave it. My mom had located an Old Navy cart with a kid seat and started pushing Brandon around in that. He loved it. I ran to one last store and everyone else waited for me at the top of the escalators. That was when Rob called me asking me why our stroller was left 30 feet away in a corner. I said, "well, my dad kept saying he was going to throw it away, he must have." I was thinking they were just joking around. Sure enough I came up the escalator and found the stroller discarded in a corner. Off they went, my son in the Old Navy cart and all of our bags piled up in the cart portion of it. The next thing I know they had loaded the damn cart up in our rental car and decided they were going to take it home. They also decided they wanted to take it down on the strip with us later that night.

.....

No. I am not kidding, my mom wanted to push around an Old Navy cart on the Las Vegas strip. I explained firmly that I was not pushing my child around in that. They came up with various other ideas, painting it for my aunt to push her dogs in, flying it home to use in Reno, etc. Finally my dad said he wanted to buy a new stroller. I said okay and off we went to Babies R Us. I showed them the $19.99 umbrella stroller I had returned and they dismissed it. Before I knew it my dad was looking at double strollers. They had them all pulled out, they were pushing them and maneuvering them and so on. I showed them all the features of each one (I've done a lot of research on them) and before I knew it they decided we needed this stroller. They also decided they were going to build it right there in the store. The next thing I know they pried open the box dumped it out and wheels and parts went rolling everywhere. My dad and uncle McGyvered it together with a set of keys and a borrowed screw driver (not the right kind). We paid, rolled our new stroller out into the parking lot and were ready to go. Just one problem though.

There was a giant fucking OLD NAVY CART in our trunk. My mom did not want to get rid of it at all. She really wanted to keep it because "Brandon" liked riding in it. Sadly we drove away leaving her beloved cart in the Babies R Us parking lot. Both boys were thrilled with their new stroller. They loved sitting next to each other. I liked that I could recline only one side if only one kid slept. It maneuvers like a dream. I shit you not it steers amazingly. We got home and the very next day loaded it up to go to the mall. Brandon was thrilled to be able to go in the stroller too and not just watch Codi get wheeled around.

So that folks is the story of how my stroller got left in Vegas and I came home with this!

** Please note, the Old Navy shopping cart is not a cart like you would find at a grocery store. I've looked all over the internet for a picture of this thing. It has a cute child seat up front, similar to a stroller with a long basket in the back meant for tossing clothes in it. I'm going to keep searching for a picture of this damn thing though.

**UPDATE!!** Mandy (whose blog link won't work) sent me a picture of the cart my mom was trying to bring home with us, it is the one on the right. Can you imagine if the blog ended with me saying TADA THIS! IS MY NEW STROLLER!