Busy Bees
One thing pretty much any mother will tell you is how important it is to keep your kids busy. I definitely succeeded in that aspect of motherhood this week. We had something planned every day. Monday it was a play date. Tuesday was visiting my parents. Wednesday was shopping for a birthday party. Thursday was a playgroup. Friday the zoo. And today we are off to a birthday party that we now have a present for.
While visiting with my parents on Tuesday, my mom and I went to the pool where my family has been members since the beginning of time. As a kid, I spent pretty much all summer there splashing and diving and taking swim lessons and practicing for swim team, and eventually, unsuccessfully trying to pick up boys. I started out playing in the baby pool, quickly moved to the big pool, and this week I found myself back at the baby pool once more. Last year I was there once with Marcus even before he could walk. This year he was cruising around the super shallow end of the baby pool having a blast while Will was doing his best to stay upright in the water. While I was sitting there on the edge of the pool I looked over and saw another mother with a little girl a little younger than Marcus. Then I realized who she was. Many summers swimming alongside someone and sitting beside that same person in my senior biology class, and there we were back where we started.
Wednesday we had to get out to do some shopping. Unfortunately the weather had changed and it was rainy all day. Sadly, my fabulous work of art made by chalk didn't hold up well to the elements.
We dodged some raindrops and headed out to do some errands. My how my life has changed! I was actually stupidly happy because I was able to go to three different places with two toddlers and not even take my stroller. Since when did this become the highlight of my day? It really wasn't even that exciting. In two places I just put Will in the shopping cart and Marcus sat in the back (in the big part that has lots of signs in it saying not to put kids back there). In the third store I used one of those massive carts that seats two kids. Still, it meant no stroller and still I was oddly happy about this. One of this things I picked up was an "instant bed". Actually I got two of them. We are hoping to take a camping trip soon and I just don't think we will have room for a pack 'n play. Plus, we only have one pack 'n play and two kids. The instant bed is basically a small air mattress with a sleeping bag attached. We got one out to give it a try and it seems as though both kids like it.
I don't think we are going to be able to avoid taking the pack 'n play on vacation just because Will really needs to be contained when not being supervised. (Marcus on the other hand, you tell him to sit and he will stay there for a week if you don't tell him otherwise.) We are renting a house for vacation and I wasn't sure where Marcus was going to sleep since he isn't used to sleeping in a big people bed yet. Now it looks like he will be sleeping in an instant bed.
The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the weather has pretty much been miserable since. I swear it is 300 degrees out there. (Well, almost 300 degrees if you take the high temperatures for the past three days and add them together. Don't question the logic.) The humidity is killer. What is the best thing to do on a sweltering hot day? Hang out with hundreds of other people, outside in the sun, and check out various species of hot and miserable animals. Friday I took the boys to the zoo where I met up with Cara, Amanda, Jen, Amy, and their kids - five boys and two girls. Marcus was the oldest kid of the group. The last time we went to the zoo, Marcus and Will snacked the entire time and the same thing happened this time. When they weren't snacking or looking at animals, they were checking out the pretty girls.
Several of the animals appeared to just be blobs of fur hiding in the shade, but we did get to see some action. A couple of the elephants were splashing in the water and they were all waving their big ears around trying to cool themselves. It turns out that elephants and my kids have something in common. If they are doing something cute (like splashing in water) the second you get your camera out, they will stop. I did manage to capture some ear flapping.
We also got quite a show in the monkey house. There was a group of girls, maybe about 10 years old, all checking out a monkey behind the glass. Marcus, Will, and I were on the other end of the exhibit and we saw a different monkey start to swing its way across the area. The girls couldn't really see it from where they were. This swinging monkey swung from one branch to another and then flung itself at the window where the girls were standing. Everyone jumped and the girls all ran off screaming. The monkey did it a couple more times, somehow managing to stick to the window for a few seconds each time to be face to face with people. We also got to see a gorilla escape. Okay, not really but it surely seemed that way. The gorillas were outside and between their grassy area and the people is a big moat. We stood there and watched a gorilla climb down a rocky wall and disappear into the moat. Marcus got to pet a deer while we were there.
One of the cutest things we saw was a family of beavers. Next time I feel like I am overwhelmed from chasing after two kids, someone needs to remind me of these beavers. Poor momma beaver was just trying to get all her baby beavers back into their den. The babies were having none of it. Momma beaver would get one baby out of the water and start heading over to the den and two more babies would be running off in the other direction, diving into the pond. I wish I would have taken some video of it. All I got was a picture that didn't turn out that great. (That's momma beaver towards the bottom and right in the middle is a baby.)
Our group pretty much skipped the end of the zoo. We were all getting cranky (moms and kids) and it was just plain hot and disgusting out.
When we got home, the kids napped and I showered. It was the best shower ever. There was still one more thing to do before we could call the day quits. I was hoping to get a little picnic table for the kids and Greg found one on craigslist. Doesn't it just look wonderful in our yard?
Now we just have to get some free time and temperatures that aren't just miserable so we can enjoy some picnics out there.
While visiting with my parents on Tuesday, my mom and I went to the pool where my family has been members since the beginning of time. As a kid, I spent pretty much all summer there splashing and diving and taking swim lessons and practicing for swim team, and eventually, unsuccessfully trying to pick up boys. I started out playing in the baby pool, quickly moved to the big pool, and this week I found myself back at the baby pool once more. Last year I was there once with Marcus even before he could walk. This year he was cruising around the super shallow end of the baby pool having a blast while Will was doing his best to stay upright in the water. While I was sitting there on the edge of the pool I looked over and saw another mother with a little girl a little younger than Marcus. Then I realized who she was. Many summers swimming alongside someone and sitting beside that same person in my senior biology class, and there we were back where we started.
Wednesday we had to get out to do some shopping. Unfortunately the weather had changed and it was rainy all day. Sadly, my fabulous work of art made by chalk didn't hold up well to the elements.
We dodged some raindrops and headed out to do some errands. My how my life has changed! I was actually stupidly happy because I was able to go to three different places with two toddlers and not even take my stroller. Since when did this become the highlight of my day? It really wasn't even that exciting. In two places I just put Will in the shopping cart and Marcus sat in the back (in the big part that has lots of signs in it saying not to put kids back there). In the third store I used one of those massive carts that seats two kids. Still, it meant no stroller and still I was oddly happy about this. One of this things I picked up was an "instant bed". Actually I got two of them. We are hoping to take a camping trip soon and I just don't think we will have room for a pack 'n play. Plus, we only have one pack 'n play and two kids. The instant bed is basically a small air mattress with a sleeping bag attached. We got one out to give it a try and it seems as though both kids like it.
I don't think we are going to be able to avoid taking the pack 'n play on vacation just because Will really needs to be contained when not being supervised. (Marcus on the other hand, you tell him to sit and he will stay there for a week if you don't tell him otherwise.) We are renting a house for vacation and I wasn't sure where Marcus was going to sleep since he isn't used to sleeping in a big people bed yet. Now it looks like he will be sleeping in an instant bed.
The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the weather has pretty much been miserable since. I swear it is 300 degrees out there. (Well, almost 300 degrees if you take the high temperatures for the past three days and add them together. Don't question the logic.) The humidity is killer. What is the best thing to do on a sweltering hot day? Hang out with hundreds of other people, outside in the sun, and check out various species of hot and miserable animals. Friday I took the boys to the zoo where I met up with Cara, Amanda, Jen, Amy, and their kids - five boys and two girls. Marcus was the oldest kid of the group. The last time we went to the zoo, Marcus and Will snacked the entire time and the same thing happened this time. When they weren't snacking or looking at animals, they were checking out the pretty girls.
Several of the animals appeared to just be blobs of fur hiding in the shade, but we did get to see some action. A couple of the elephants were splashing in the water and they were all waving their big ears around trying to cool themselves. It turns out that elephants and my kids have something in common. If they are doing something cute (like splashing in water) the second you get your camera out, they will stop. I did manage to capture some ear flapping.
We also got quite a show in the monkey house. There was a group of girls, maybe about 10 years old, all checking out a monkey behind the glass. Marcus, Will, and I were on the other end of the exhibit and we saw a different monkey start to swing its way across the area. The girls couldn't really see it from where they were. This swinging monkey swung from one branch to another and then flung itself at the window where the girls were standing. Everyone jumped and the girls all ran off screaming. The monkey did it a couple more times, somehow managing to stick to the window for a few seconds each time to be face to face with people. We also got to see a gorilla escape. Okay, not really but it surely seemed that way. The gorillas were outside and between their grassy area and the people is a big moat. We stood there and watched a gorilla climb down a rocky wall and disappear into the moat. Marcus got to pet a deer while we were there.
One of the cutest things we saw was a family of beavers. Next time I feel like I am overwhelmed from chasing after two kids, someone needs to remind me of these beavers. Poor momma beaver was just trying to get all her baby beavers back into their den. The babies were having none of it. Momma beaver would get one baby out of the water and start heading over to the den and two more babies would be running off in the other direction, diving into the pond. I wish I would have taken some video of it. All I got was a picture that didn't turn out that great. (That's momma beaver towards the bottom and right in the middle is a baby.)
Our group pretty much skipped the end of the zoo. We were all getting cranky (moms and kids) and it was just plain hot and disgusting out.
When we got home, the kids napped and I showered. It was the best shower ever. There was still one more thing to do before we could call the day quits. I was hoping to get a little picnic table for the kids and Greg found one on craigslist. Doesn't it just look wonderful in our yard?
Now we just have to get some free time and temperatures that aren't just miserable so we can enjoy some picnics out there.
posted by Annie and Greg @ 12:26 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
What a busy day!! Looks like you accomplished a lot. The instant bed is so cute with both boys cuddled in it.
Gail
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