Melt down mania

Let me just start by saying "ugggghhhh"! Why are children so difficult sometimes. We went to ShopKo today with some "new" friends (not sure if they will stay our friends after tonight) to look for christmas ideas and hang out. The boys, and when I say boys I mean my two 3 1/2 year olds- not my 8 month old, were absolutely rotten! They were having melt down after melt down. First it was because we walked by the media section and they saw a movie playing that they liked and they wanted to stand there and watch the whole thing. That was melt down number one. Then it was because they decided to run away and sit on all the "big" kid bikes and were told that they couldn't play on those- melt down number 2. Then they wanted to ride in one of the sleds- melt down number 3. And the final melt down at ShopKo was strolling bu the candy aisle on our way out- melt down number 4.
Now you may be thinking to yourselves- wow how could it get worse than this. Oh it does. We then proceeded to go to dinner at Red Robin and the melt downs started all over again. And through all this mess of tears and frustration, my sweet little Cashis sat perfectly still and happily in not only the shopping cart, but the high chair as well the ENTIRE time and watched his brothers melt down in amusement! By the end of the evening I was about to pull my hair out! Our tentative friends have one little boy who did quite well, so I think it's safe to say that this friendship will probably not last much beyond tonight. My boys are usually really well behaved so I was really sad that they were so rotten today! Again- ugggghhhhh!