Just about anytime we have somewhere to be in the morning, whether I have help from Craig or not, it is difficult. We don't rise super early at our house, so when we have to be somewhere by 10a.m., it always proves to be a challenge. The Arboretum is a good 50 minute drive from my house, so getting out the door that morning was hectic to say the least. But probably not quite as hectic as getting the kids and I out the door and to MDO in Allen by 9:15.
Craig laughs at me when I talk about how hard it is to get out the door this early and my response is... "I can get myself out the door this early, no problem but when you have 4 people to get fed and ready and having to stop to potty every few minutes, it creates a bit more difficulty."
After we (Craig was off work that day with appointments all day) got them ready and loaded up, I was not half way there and Whitney said she had to potty. I just ignored it because I was certain she did not need to. Then, somehow I got stuck on the 635W HOV lane so I took a slight detour before getting back on track to the Arboretum.
Once we got there, only 5 minutes late, I might add, I unloaded all the kids in a VERY busy parking lot, which had Mommy so frazzled it wasn't even funny. I got out my walking rope for all the kids to grab a loop and walk in. They all got a little twisted around the wrong way which is pretty common. Then Whitney fell and skinned up her knee pretty good. She cried as I hugged her while trying to keep the other two from getting in the street where everybody and their dog was coming in to the park.
We get to the gate, meet up with our friends go inside and take our first potty break. Fail - nobody went. I tried the public restroom and my portable potty in hopes they would feel comfortable enough to go there but no such luck.
Off we went to see the pumpkins. My crew is very shy in new places and are all slow to warm up. We had a pretty good size group with us that day so this is why I think nobody noticed when me and the trio got left behind. Meanwhile, I was dealing with one very fussy little boy. Stopped at a bench to have a little talk with him and then my friend realized I was not with them so she came back to give me a hand.... literally!
Once we get to the pumpkins, they were all still very fussy, clingy and not wanting anything to do with any kind of pumpkin, but it didn't take long before they warmed up and started having a good time. I gave them a little tiny pumpkin to hold and all the bad attitudes were gone...for two kids at least. :)
It was virtually impossible to get the three of them looking through this window at the same time.
We played on hay bales and held pumpkins while getting our pictures taken; we ran through pumpkin houses; we went through hay mazes and watched as our friends got their faces painted. Then we stopped for another potty break and a friend helped watch two kids for me while I went in with just one. No luck with any of them after trying the regular potty and the portable potty. Starting to get nervous about the pottying or lack thereof.
We then headed over to feed the fish and just as I gave my kids their bread to give to the fish, they started eating it. Turns out there were no fish at that location so we headed to another and thankfully our friends shared some bread with us to feed to the fish since we had already eaten our fish food. Ha! The kids really enjoyed throwing bread in and watching the dozens and dozens of fish swim over and eat it all up, while the moms kept a close eye on the many toddlers inching closer and closer to the edge.
After that, we stopped for a picnic lunch and boy were our kids hungry... or at least mine were. :) After a nice lunch and a short play time, we headed toward the exit but this time, I gave Tyler Mrs. Jennifer's hand. So much easier for my girls to keep up if they are holding an adult's hand. I think I spent the majority of the time walking through the park with my head turned around, while telling the kids "come on; keep up; we're getting behind" etc.
We stopping by the petting zoo just before we left. The kids got to pet the goats, sheep, rabbits, donkey and chickens. Then we were off to the car and on our merry way back to Oklahoma! We made it home with zero accidents which makes Mommy very happy! : )
I do think I have been making small strides to get my kids out more. Just taking them to the regular places I go like Target and Kroger, except now adding potty training to the mix, is a much bigger and more complicated task. So, I go from that to driving almost two hours round trip, on foot - w/o strollers and potty training??????? Made for a pretty exhausting day for me but I do think the kids enjoyed themselves and I did too for the most part.
I have another playdate at an open gym on Tuesday and I am hoping this will be much easier on Mommy. Crossing my fingers the kids won't clam up like they did at the Arboretum or have a potty accident.
