We started with yard work. Since I'm pretty useless anywhere too low to the ground these days, I tackled cleaning and vacuuming the car. I kind of over-estimated myself because vacuuming the car proved to be a lot more bending and reaching than I bargained for. It ended up that Greg had to split his time between helping the girls know what to pull out as weeds and helping me reach different hard to reach places in the car. Gavin mostly just played in the car. It was hard work and when we were done, we were all hot and sweaty and hungry and tired. Greg and I looked at each other and both said we'd rather just go back to bed instead of all the festivities that were planned ahead of us, but we were determined to make a fun day for the kids. So, I packed a giant and fancy picnic and then we headed over to a children's festival.
We've been to petting zoos before but Gavin has always been too young to really appreciate it before. We were excited to see what he would do with the animals.
Tati was a lot braver. I didn't get pictures of it all with her but she actually touched a chicken this time. They are quite pecky so she usually avoids them. She also ventured to pick up a few animals on her own. The old lady who runs the place is a bit strict with the animal rules and if you pick up an animal, you can only carry it a short distance to sit on a chair. and hold it there. Her favorite is always the baby goats.
Chloe really enjoyed the goats as well and she was also a really good helper with the little kids. She would pick up animals for them and carefully carry them to the chairs. She did quite well with a chicken. I was impressed because as I mentioned before, we've never had good luck with the chickens.
Then there was Gavin. He wanted to touch and hold the animals but if they'd wiggle or make a noise, he'd throw them to the ground. I was the glad the old lady wasn't watching us too carefully because I'm pretty sure we would've been kicked out of the zoo. He REALLY wanted to hold the pig. I did not want to touch the piglet. He was so squealy. It was so loud and weird. The lady told us to calm him, we needed to pet him furiously and make him feel comfortable. Yeah, right. So he squealed and squealed and then Gavin threw him. Poor piglet. He did enjoy the baby goat too but was unsure of holding him. Gavin preferred to just touch the animals that walked by him.
It was super hot outside and I was wearing flip flops with sweaty feet. We were walking on weird straw and my feet were getting all dirty and powdery from all the wood and hay bits on the floor. Some friends of ours were there and I was trying to help them with the animals too because the catching and holding is quite a difficult job, afterall. Anyway, at one point as I was helping the squealy piglet, it bit me. It scared me and it REALLY hurt. It was gross. When we finally left the zoo, I felt even more gross and sweaty.
We tried to corral the kids over to the big helicopter that was there and along the way stopped for balloon animals and a free slushie. It seemed like things were getting better until we headed over to the helicopter and Gavin lost it because he wasn't allowed to sit inside of it. He was so mad.
On our way to the car, Tati and I both had to go to the bathroom so we stopped by a porta potty. Having both of us fit inside was a bit of a joke. And having the balloon sword with us in the bathroom was a mother's nightmare. Somehow we both managed to pee and wipe and not fall into the pit or have the balloon sword fall into the pit. It was a feat that I don't want to repeat ever in my life. As we walked to the car I realized that my undies and shorts were all crooked and uncomfortable because there wasn't enough room for me to properly pull everything up. Then I had to try and find somewhere where I could straighten myself up. It was lovely.
By now we were all starving and thirsty and hot. We needed to eat--especially Mommy. We were close to home but since we had packed an elaborate lunch, we were determined to go and have a picnic somewhere. So we drove to one of our favorite parks excited to relax and eat but it was over-run with people. They were having a big running race there and every nook and cranny was already full of racers, bikers, and picnickers. So we went to another park but suddenly we hit some crazy traffic and couldn't get there very fast. It too was super crowded but we finally found a spot and unloaded our stuff. Just as we were about to set up our blanket, we heard the worst karaoke booming from speakers across the park. It just wasn't the atmosphere that we were hoping for. Even though we were right next to the river, in a wooded area, all we heard was some horrible voice singing a horrible song from the 80's. So we packed up our stuff and jumped back in the car. We were all cranky by this point and we didn't know where to go and we also knew that everybody's fuses were very short. I was sick of driving and so hungry that I said we should just give up and go home. It just felt like too much work to try and make us have a "fun" time. Greg was sick of it too and agreed that we should just go home. Just then Chloe said, "Guys, let's not give up. Let's not go home. Let's try one more park." Then she suggested another one for us to go to where we often enjoy picnicking. We agreed to try one more but if it was too crowded, we were going home and giving up. The clouds were rolling in and we were just sure it was going to storm. It seemed like everything was against us.
We once again hit TONS of traffic. It seemed like everywhere we went there was a festival or a market or a race or dumb drivers. Somehow, miraculously, the kids all started to be in super good moods. They were talking to each other and laughing and Gavin didn't complain once that he was hungry.
When we arrived at the park, Greg ran down the road to see ahead and tell if anybody else was there. He ran back and told us that IT WAS EMPTY!
So we unloaded our stuff and RAN (well I sorta ran) over to our favorite tree and threw out our picnic blanket and got some food in our bodies as fast as we could. Once we had all eaten, the day didn't seem like it was so dark and horrible anymore. The sun came out, we could hear the robins singing and the kids ran around and climbed trees. We even enjoyed some American Double Stuff Oreos.
The moral of the story is this: don't over plan your day, be flexible, be positive, and don't think that the world is against you because even though there are trials and hard things that happen like twisted undies and a piglet biting you, the sun will eventually come out and you can smile, relax and eat an Oreo.
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