Too good to pass up.

Today was a busy day. We headed to Fort Wayne this afternoon for a late lunch for Jess’ birthday celebration at the Olive Garden. Good times! Great times, actually, I can still taste whatever it was that I ate!

After lunch it was a day full of Jess’ favorite hobby – shopping. I tried my best not to complain, but admit that I got a bit annoyed at the 6-hour stop at Old Navy. (it wasn’t quite six hours, but you get the picture)

The “Avenue” store proved very fruitful as Jess came away with numerous clothing articles and I enjoyed some Daddy/Ella time and showing her off to anyone who passed by. We also enjoyed some time in front of the “270-degree mirror” where Ella continued to look at all of the other “Ellas” that were staring right back at her! I wish I would’ve had the camera. From Avenue we hit up Old Navy and then a quick stop at the new Starbucks on Coliseum.

We stopped at Bath and Body Works in Columbia City, then a quick shoe store visit before a leisurely walk through Wal-Mart. We had planned on returning a few Christmas gifts and exchanging them for alternate versions (smaller PJs and a widescreen version of a DVD instead of Full Screen – my O.C.D.). After we browsed the PJ department and couldn’t find the widescreen version of the DVD, we browsed through the clearance isles and gawked at the selection of useless items.

And then we saw it.

The “Little Tikes Elmo Giggle and Shake Chair”. It was on clearance and would only take $6 or $7 out of our pocket if we used the in-store credit we had just received from our returns. So we sacrificed for our daughter – we splurged on the chair and can’t wait for her to wake up and give it a try! We hope those (you know who you are) who bought us the wonderful PJs and DVD won’t be upset at us for combining our gift to get a gift for Ella, but we have a feeling you’ll be proud of us!

::EDIT::
Ella woke up and LOVES her chair!