smooth moves

the word "free" might just be my favorite word in the entire english language. i'm also fond of the words "sale" and "discount" and "cheap" ... but "free" definitely beats them all. as i was scanning the business section in the newspaper earlier this week, "free" practically jumped off the page at me in a tidbit about a local smoothie place. i zeroed in on the information, taking note of the important details. this is something we would not miss. in honor of National Flip-Flop Day on june 19 (betcha didn't know that flip-flops have their own national day!), this restaurant was giving out a free 24 ounce strawberry/banana smoothie to any customer wearing flip-flops. so on friday afternoon, i loaded the kids into the car and we headed out to the tropical smoothie cafe a mile down the road. i just had one slight problem: neither of my children own a pair of flip-flops. crocs are our summer shoe of choice, but clearly, donning crocs would not earn us a free smoothie. so i had to improvise. we slowly ... carefully ... shuffled into that restaurant, susanna wearing one of my extra pairs that were literally twice as big as her feet, and liam wearing a hand-me-down pair that might fit him in a year or two. they reminded me of many of the elderly residents at my grandfather's retirement home, exercising the utmost caution as they moved inch by inch by inch. they only faltered three or four times before making it successfully up to the counter to earn their treats. the kids were about to FLIP when they were handed that huge cup of fruity goodness. and believe you me, it was worth it. our date at tropical smoothie cafe was definitely no FLOP.