* Shopping Made Fun *

I would much rather do household shopping on my own than with my two children. Don't get me wrong I love being with them, but sometimes shopping takes a little longer when having to stop and "look" at everything or when we have one too many bathroom breaks.

However there are a few stores that I truly enjoy taking my kids to because they make for a fun shopping experience. Here is a list of some of the one's we enjoy together.

We love the yogurt from Trader Joe's and usually have to make a bi-weekly trip to stock up on that delicious yogurt. The kids also love the fruit leather strips and the ceral bars. There are way too many things I personally enjoy from there to name but it's one of our favorite places. Another fun perk is that the kids know they have to search for a certain stuffed monkey. This stuffed monkey get's hidden through out the store in different spots every day. The goal is to find him and when you check out tell the cashier and she or he will give you an ORGANIC Lollipop. Is that fun or what? They also have monthly themed coloring pages the kids take home bring back and then get hung on the wall at the store. When there are holidays they also have holiday themed stickers and the kids usually get a roll of them when we visit.

Another store that I don't mind taking the kids to is Walgreens. Now I visit this store weekly due to my couponing and Register Rewards that I talked about in my bargain blog. This store is fun because the staff has come to know and love the kids. They know them by name and they are usually so sweet and nice to the kids and that in itself makes for a pleasant shopping experience.

We also like to visit Sam's club. Samuel thinks this place was named after him. One morning after some of the employees finished a brief morning meeting, they did a Sam's club cheer. Samuel got excited and thought they were singing about him. "WE ARE NUMBER ONE, S.A.M WHAT DOES THAT SPELL?" ha ha. When the manager learned what my son's name was, she made the employees sing the cheer again just for my Sam. I wish I would have taken a picture of his face it was priceless. Needless to say we enjoy going to "Sam's Club".

Ralphs is a store we visit on occasion when they have good sales and I have good coupon matchups. However when we do visit, we tend to have a pleasant shopping experience because Samuel get's to push around a "real" shopping cart sized just for kids. I put certain things in his cart and he absolutely loves it. They also give him and Samara a balloon at the end of the shopping trip.

Albertsons is another favorite and again I only shop there when I have coupons and good matchups. We like it though because the kids are part of their FREE Healthy Eater Club. This means they can choose up to one free snack per visit. This includes; bananas, bagels, cheese and apples. They also like it because they have a cart that has a car in the front. So they can "drive" while I shop.

We have discovered ways to make shopping fun because sometimes I don't have a choice and must go with the children. On the days when I can go by myself, I choose Target and Walmart so I can take my time browse and coupon. It is nice to know though that God extends grace to me when I shop with the kids and sometimes feel overwhelmed and i'm thankful for the places that I know will be fun for us all.