Sunday in San Antonio was our free date day......nothing on the agenda, no where to be or go. Just whatever hit us at the moment as fun. We opted to take the bus from the campground instead of driving since we'd have to worry about parking and all kinds of crap. I can honestly say neither one of us were entirely aware that the bus detoured through the ghettos before arriving at our downtown location. Brad and I later surmised, after having driven around some later on in the day, that there's not much of San Antonio that's not the ghetto. It was quite the experience....especially with a baby in tow.
Watching the world go by
But in a hurried effort to make the bus I threw stuff into the diaper bag. It was going to be an all day affair so I needed a day bag. With my little camo bag I shoved a few diapers in and the little travel wet wipe box along with some lip gloss and stuff. Oh...and I would need a blanket to nurse under so I threw the lightweight one in...though still rather large in order to cover us up. So, that took up some room. I tried stuffing in the front carrier for him in the event that he got tired of the backpack...though we have yet to have a baby that ever tires of the backpack! But....due to diaper, wipes, blanket and whatever else was in there the Snugli wouldn't fit. Hurriedly pitching it out I decided he'd need an extra outfit. So, I tried to stuff that in....but that meant now messing with another pair of socks to match the new outfit...and shoes now too since the outfit he had on had footies. So, now socks and shoes to go with the new outfit. The bus clock was ticking and the bag was not showing any signs of growing any bigger to fit the new crap I'm tyring to force upon it. Finally I looked at Brad and just said to forget it. After all, it's only a day trip and how often do we ever need a new outfit???? Back to the basics of diapers and wipes and we were set to go.
Camping Out
We had joyfully discovered the annual RV show was in town the same weekend we were so we headed in that direction first. I LOVE RV shows and have since I was little. Daddy used to have days out together with each child and it was always that child's choice of where to go. Almost every time, I opted for lunch and the RV sales place just for the sheer joy of looking through them. It just never gets old to me. The life of being on the road and seeing how you can play house in the midst of traveling. And the fact that Brad and I were camped out in his trailer was even more fun since it made looking at them seem closer to home. We arrived safely at the conv center after having woven our way through the less than wonderful scenic bus route...though I can't complain about not making some comical memories in the process....and we proceeded to go up and down, in and out of seemingly hundreds of different RV models. It was such a highlight and unexpected surprise to be able to go to something so dear to my heart and the children and arrangements for them not even being an issue. It was like a sweet little kiss. Though I found myself wishing numerous times that Grayson and Evye had been able to see it.
So, after having been there for some time I walked behind Brad. I caught a whiff of nursing baby stink and figured Gavin probably had a small gas issue. I fell back for a moment and then sniffed again, giving time for the air to clear in between sniffs so the contaminated air could float away if it was indeed a gas leak. The 2nd whiff smelled about like the 1st and I informed Brad that I thought there was more to it than air. So, we went in search of the nearest bathroom. Brad lifted him out of the pack and, upon seeing him, said that we may have more of an issue than we originally thought. I looked and there was what seemed to be a small leak. I figured I could salvage the outfit by wiping the minor little poo line with a wipe and nobody'd be the wiser since he is tucked neatly inside the pack while we walk. I carried him into the bathroom diaper station and discovered after unsnapping him that the little poo streak was not exactly that. Nope. It was more like an atomic bomb had gone off and hit everything but the inside of his diaper. In fact....it was put out with so much force that the inside of his diaper was relatively dry and the explosion pattern was just that.......getting wider as the path went up and out of his diaper. It reached his neck. I yelled to Brad who was still standing outside of the bathroom, that we had more of a problem than we thought. I seriously didn't know quite what to do. I didn't even know where to start on the whole cleaning process. All the while women came and went from the bathroom checking out my predicament. Thankfully, they were mostly geriatrics since RV's are a very geriatric hobby. Little grannies came and went, clucking softly and sweetly to him, all the while stating the painful obviousness of my situation. Anywhere I laid the diaper it left piles of poo that I had tried to wipe off of him. So, the diaper changer was not really an ideal place for it and the floor was kind of out too since the diaper would have just left a portion of its contents there too. So, there he was butt naked on this hard plastic changing station and the trash can was many miles away on the opposite end of the bathroom. Finally I left him there so I could at least do away with the diaper and get back to wiping him down. It was seriously the closest I have ever come to hosing a kid down in a foreign sink. I think it took about the whole box of wipes to finally get him back into a sanitary state. And I refrain from using the word clean here since clean is not what comes to mind when I think about that incident...before or after the fact. He still wreaked but all signs of it on him were finally gone. With no other option I carried him out of the bathroom in his little diaper. That felt strange. I have never in my life carried any of my children outside of the home in a diaper. I'm a firm believer in one's children being presentable when out in public. So, in all of my years of parenting they have always had clean clothes, socks, shoes and the hair at least combed, if not completely styled. To me they just look uncared for and unkempt if you get out on the town with dirty kids with messed up hair and babies in nothing but diapers. Personal opinion here.
Improvising with a bungee cord hooked to a cabinet knob and some toys. He loved it!
So, I was more than little humbled as people cooed, oohed and ahhed over him in the backpack only to discover he was not dressed. Everytime somebody made a comment I immediately came back with the fact he had suffered a small accident. Brad finally laughed at me and told me I did not owe the world an explanation for our baby's naked state. Having been out and messed with now, Gavin had no desire to climb back into the pack. So, I nursed him in his little diaper under his blue blanket..his naked state hidden away from the world.....wrapped him back up and this time just carried him. Now longing for both the outfit and Snugli I had thrown out in my attempt to hurry things up to leave. He was more covered while being carried than in the backpack though so carry on I did. No one was the wiser. He had plenty of admirers but I just held him close so all that was visible was his little head peeking out from under the covers that bordered on suffocating him in my efforts to cover his skin against the outside wind and world. We made our way across the few streets and into the Riverwalk mall. I asked the 1st employee I could find where a mall directory could be found since we were in need of a baby boutique. After only a few steps we saw the glowing lights of Macy's. I'm not sure I've ever shopped there in my life but it was looking pretty good about then since my arms were aching after having carried his 16 pounds of solid little baby weight through the conv center, across streets and now through the mall. We were directed to the baby dept and quickly located a little red long john shirt and some overalls that were on sale for more than 1/2 price. And to top it off, it was the cutest thing they had. We found a little pair of socks and quickly headed to the register. Of course, no one could be found. On the move again we came into the shoe dept. While Brad paid I laid him on the chair provided and started ripping tags off. We had several nearby shoppers good naturedly laughing at us but I was just glad to finally have him in some clothes again.
Hanging with Daddy
We were ravished by that time so the hunt was on for the 1st decent restaurant we came across. After lunch we headed back to get the truck to set off for the rest of the fun we had decided to throw in. I told Brad that the two of us ought to have a date weekend at least once a season. I don't think we've had that much uninterrupted time together since our honeymoon.
Finally making peace with the travel swing
The end of a long day 
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