A Trip To Charlottesville

Yesterday my wife and I decided to take a nice drive out to Charlottesville to visit Babies 'R Us, just to see what they had and get some ideas. Unfortunately, it wasn't a Babies 'R Us, just a regular Toys 'R Us with a regular baby section. We were misinformed, and it turns out the nearest Babies 'R Us is 2 hours away in Richmond. Still, they had some nice stuff in their baby section, in particular a cherry wood changing table my wife really liked. Here's the subtle difference between my wife and I: As excited as I am, I am not yet at the "changing-table-buying" level of excitement. Glad to have one? Most definately. Excited about it and the purpose for which it exists? Not as much.

Afterwards we traveled across the street to Applebee's for lunch. They changed their menus a bit, and the ham and turkey on sourdough that I enjoy was no longer an option. I settled for the bacon cheeseburger while my wife enjoyed a BBQ chicken sandwich.

Next stop: Sears, where my wife was tipped had a decent maternity selection. Although not showing very much, my wife has progressed enough to the point of needing some stretchy jeans. Sears turned out to be a small letdown, as their materity section was essentially one isle, containing no plus-size materity wear. Onward to the baby section, wher I found something that cracked me up to no end - a baby stroller equiped with its own Ipod docking station! Does that not scream "teenage mother"? Seriously, how many parents-to-be are out there downloading Raffi? I got quite a kick out of it, although to be honest, if I owned an Ipod, I'd probably want to start influencing my spawn to the musical stylings of They Might Be Giants. Not that I won't anyways...

Fortunately for Meredith, the mall where Sears is located also has a store specifically for maternity clothes. Meredith found her plus-size stretchy jeans, as well as an assortment of sweaters and blouses. Even I found something - a book on fatherhood that is quite humerous. I'd been looking for a book that helps us guys figure out what to do and expect and I think I found it. Yay.

Otherthan a quick stop for lemonade and warm pretzels, and another quick stop at Waldens bookstore, and our trip was complete. Back home to Staunton to relax and watch the World Series.