We could not catch a break today.

We got up this morning with plans of a late breakfast/brunch at a place where we had a restaurant.com gift certificate. You have to spend at least $35 to be able to use the $25 certificate. No problem. We figured we would get out of there and only have to pay about $10 out of pocket. Awesome! Turns out, the place is super expensive (menu online did not have prices. Should have suspected something then!) and the service SUCKS. We ended up paying almost $30 out-of-pocket, which means that our breakfast (2 adult meals, one kid meal to split, 4 drinks) cost over $50. Are you effing kidding me? Wow. We will never go back there again. Because the service was so bad, we were late getting out of there, which put the pressure on for getting to our next destination.

We showed up in Burlington a few minutes after 12, and the Santa Parade was supposed to start at 12. We worried we might miss it. We had been talking it up to the kids so much, that we were worried they would be so disappointed. So, we found parking and hurried to where it was supposed to be. Huh. Why are there so few people around? We asked a crossing guard and he told us that the parade already happened...YESTERDAY! WTF? Are you kidding me? Our AAA magazine had the parade listed for today at noon. Oh well. Thanks for nothing AAA. (Well, except for when you came to our house yesterday and towed the car out of the mud. Thanks for that!)

So, we walk around the marketplace area. It is nice and sunny, so we have a walk around, and try to stop for a hot chocolate break with the thermos we had the forethought to bring. The thermos kept the stuff so warm for over 4 hours that Taylor burns her mouth and her Thermos brand stainless steel sippy cup leaks all over her. Awesome! Jordan then throws up outside of City Hall after a brief coughing fit. Wow! This day really rocks!

We then decide to head inside the mall, where we saw Santa setting up earlier. What? You don't think a kid who just puked should go and have pics with Santa? I totally disagree! There was no line, so we figured we might as well get some pictures taken of the kids with Santa so that all is not lost of the day. On the way there we pass a dude making balloon sculptures for kids. Our kids love them and want some. Only problem? The guy charges $3 per sculpture and we have no cash on us, so we have to pull the kids away from him with no balloon animals. God, this day really rocks!

We get to the Santa area. Huh. Where's Santa? Oh, he is on a break and will be back in 30 minutes. Seriously? Are you freakin' kidding me? There is really nothing to do and there is no way our kids can stand there for 30 minutes, in the rapidly growing line. (The guy who will be taking the pictures tries telling us that "30 minutes isn't really THAT long." Really, dude? With 2.5 year old twins who are already SO DONE? OK, then why don't you stand in line with them?) So, we finally admit defeat and decide to head home.

Have you had days like this? From start to finish, we seriously COULD NOT CATCH A BREAK! Nary a thing went as we expected or in our favor. Although, given the season, if I had to pick something to be thankful for, I think I could actually come up with a few things:

1) We were there for less than 2 hours, so parking was free
2) Jordan chose to puke outside, rather than inside the car (his favorite spot for puking), so we did not have to clean the car and the car seat of copious amounts of vomit. Unfortunately we (and by we, I mean Penny) are experts at cleaning puke out of the nooks and crannies of Jordan's car seat with Q-tips. Now there's a visual I bet you could have done without!
3) Verizon was sponsoring FREE miniature horse drawn buggy rides for kids around the square. Our kids took a little ride and had a blast!

On a day like today, I say this: Thank God for small favors.

Can tomorrow please be a better day? PLEASE???