A Fau family day out

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I know it says in the Bible that we have to have faith when we pray and trust that God will answer us but I've figured that even when I don't have much faith sometimes and I pray, God answers anyway, just to prove a point. I'd prayed about my family situation and God had given me the new bedroom. Then, that Saturday he blessed me again in response to this, by giving me a free Saturday to do something with the family.

I had thought it would just be a shopping trip to Cora - I don't exactly have much money to spend but a trip to Cora was enough to get excited about. Then Cedric announced that we were going to Macdonalds for lunch! I don't who was more excited - me or the children. A trip to Macdonalds is a rare thing in the Fau family, which makes it all the more exciting.

We hadn't had a day out like this in ages, something I pointed out to Cedric and Laetitia as we sat in Macdonalds, munching on burgers and chips and slurping coke. We'd had a bit of Fau family trouble trying to decide where to sit so after a few rounds of trooping around the restaurant with everyone staring at us curiously, we decided on a table as far as possible from the door and close enough to the indoor playground for the kids to hop over to.

The downside was that the tables were only supposed to accommodate a family of four so being a family of seven we were all squeezed in tight and it was too cold to take off our many layers so any movement was made rather difficult.

Not only did we get to eat an unhealthy main meal, we also got treated to an unhealthy dessert too: caramel ice cream! It must have been agony for Laetitia to watch us all eat seeing as she's on a strict diet, what with possibly being diabetic. To have to cut out any kind of food must be unbearable, it would be for me anyway, I think that's one of the reasons I've never tried fasting.

The kids had a great time on the playground afterwards, burning off all the calories - if there hadn't been an age restriction, I might have joined them. Getting them to leave proved rather difficult - it was a bit like trying to catch a runaway animal - Gabriel came kicking and screaming but a small dose of coke (or l'eau qui pique as they call it) quickly silenced him.

Our next stop was a large indoor DIY shop, where we were hoping to buy a wood stove. The ice cold wind and -10 temperatures that day made getting in and out of the car with all the children a bit of a nightmare.

As always we used a trolley to ferry the children around in - at point all four of them were in it, treating it like a small bed (I regret not taking a photo - it was rather an amusing sight) and I noticed other children looked on with envy. Cedric and Laetitia are pretty cool parents.

Whilst they were browsing through the wood stoves, I amused the children, pushing them around in the trolley and then Gabriel took me for a small wonder round the shop, crying out indignantly every time I tried to catch him.

By the end of the shopping trip my energy levels were dangerously low - although it had been a blessed family day out and God's way of affirming my place and sense of belonging within the family, I was very tired by the end of it.

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