Got Sandals?

I had a pretty long list of To Do's today and I pretty much accomplished two of them.

I ran.

I got the kids some sandals.

With our upcoming beach trip, and recent warmer days, the time had come for kiddie sandal purchasing. For close to three weeks I have obsessed over this purchase. I had two objectives. 1) Get a good deal, and 2) Get Heath to have a Croc-less summer. Don't get me wrong, Crocs have their purpose. Easy on-easy off. And if you have a kid like mine who can find (and wallow in) a mud puddle in the driest of places, being able to rinse a shoe off with zero trouble has its advantages. But I felt like a heartier sandal to match his rough and tumble ways was in order.

I considered Tevas for a day, but decided that my "prone to trip and fall" children needed something to cover their toes. I reconsidered Crocs, mainly to avoid Heath having a meltdown and refusing to wear a new sandal and if tried something new, I would have to return it, and purchase Crocs anyway. I considered flip flops while on a recent visit to Target. Heath wouldn't even try them on, and Stella picked at the material between her feet and said, Ow, ow, ow.

I finally zeroed in on Keens. They seem to fit all my buying criteria. Straps make them airy and light, so they can still work for trips to the beach and pool. The toes are covered in times of the inevitable slip-and-fall. And their soles could withstand the desire, the need, the have to run everywhere that courses through Heath and Stella's bodies.

But the price. The price kept me skeptical and unable to pull the trigger for a week or so. I stalked a web site that a friend told me about that has frequent Keen clearance items. But their sizes never seemed available. Plus, they've never worn the brand before, so shoe size felt a little dicey to me.

Then finally, finally, REI showered me with its gift of the 20% off coupon. So today, we took the kids to the local REI for some kiddie Keens. When we told Heath where we were going, and why we were going there, he said,--no, he didn't say, he WHINED, I don't want any sandals, I'm too grumpy!!! Fun.

We lucked out and found a couple of pieces of construction equipment parked by the store, so that seemed to distract Heath long enough to get him inside. And once in, the mayhem of kayaks and bikes and tents and multi-levels took over and he pretty much forgot that he was grumpy and didn't want sandals.

When we made it to the shoe section, I immediately found the Keens and a helpful sales clerk who was eager to help us make this speedy and painless. While she is getting ready to measure their feet, Heath took off and returned with a surprise. Crocs. Infant-sized, of course. I say, Fine, we'll get those, but let's have this nice lady measure your feet so we can get the right size.

In the haze of shoe measuring, Heath forgot about the Crocs. The lady brought out blue and green Keens for Heath, and pink and light blue for Stella to try. Suddenly Heath is more interested in the green shoes. He tries them on and Mark asks him to run to the end of the store and back.

I ran so fast, he said, when he returned from his zippy trial spin. We have a winner.

And Stella was thrilled with hers, and wanted nothing to do with the light blue. She settled on the pink immediately and wandered around the store, pointing to her feet, saying, Shoes, to anyone who would listen.

They didn't even want to put their old shoes back on, and were completely thrilled to take a spin on a couple of bikes decked out with flames and daisies and training wheels, when the shoe purchase was finished.

Seven days 'til HB. Think mama needs some new sandals, too.