Our first outing!

Our fraternal twin daughters Lindsey and Chelsea had finally received their first round of immunizations and were cleared by our pediatrician to begin visiting the outside world.  So, this past 4^th of July weekend, we took our baby girls out for our first family outing.

After strapping on our matching baby carriers (having left our eighteen-wheeler of a stroller at home), we, along with the babies’ Godparents visited the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  While at first, the carriers seemed to be a bit less conspicuous than the double-length stroller, we soon noticed that one of us would walk past people and receive the “aw, what a cute baby” glance, but then when the second parent came strolling by, it was like watching a light bulb go off, and then we would see their faces transform into the “oh my goodness, are those twins?” response. 

The girls behaved beautifully at the Air Zoo, and even took their first virtual trip to Mars with us.  Though they were still a little too small for the moon walk; even if they could meet the height requirements, there was still the whole “walking” thing, ya know?

Several breastfeedings later, we began our trek home.  It was the go-karts that initially caught our eyes, but the mini-golf course seemed a whole lot safer for the babies, so off to the putting greens we went.

Strapping the girls back to our chests, mom and dad teed off against the Godparents and their daughters, proclaiming the need for a “baby handicap.”  Our request was, of course, voted down, and our girls did remarkably well, all the way up until the 16^th hole when they had apparently decided that eating was far more important than the heated contest going on between rival dads on the golf course.  The final two holes were a blur, as was the mad dash to the air-conditioned video arcade where mom, dad, and the babies could cool down, enjoy a slushie, or some breast milk as the case may be, and tally the scores.

Our girls did amazingly well on their first outing.  And so did Daddy: finishing just eight over par, beating the girls’ Godfather by just one stroke (even without a baby handicap), and earning bragging rights for years to come.