ready, set, go!

i am not sure what i was thinking today, but i must have been feeling ambitious.  we started out early (as always) and i made packed lunches for the whole family while we ate breakfast and did the regular getting ready for school routine.  maddux insisted on wearing his shirt backwards because he liked the "picture" on the back better and wanted to be able to see it.  we put madelyn on the bus and then rushed to get to bjs and pick up a few things (i needed some milk for dinner).  i had a cooler in the car for the groceries so we wouldn't have to stop back by the house (there wasn't going to be time anyway) and told the boys that they can have no "show you something" stops.  then it was off to the ymca to check the boys in at child care for me to take my water class. 

after i was showered and dressed, i got the boys and we were off to the zoo for some fun and lunch.  we were super surprised to see the "boo at the zoo" sign was already up and mason insisted on getting a picture before we went in. the parking lot was more full than i expected with school in session but it was the least cars we have seen all summer.

it was a great day for the zoo and there actually weren't very many kids there - mainly older adults.  the boys were thrilled because it meant that they could go down the new otter slides as many times as they wanted!  i think i cut them off at ten since we did need to get manning home for a nap.

we usually wave hi to daddy when we pass the hospital on our way to the zoo.  the new exhibit gives a great view of downtown and the hospital.  (i think mason was the one who pointed this out to us.)  the first picture is without a zoom but the second one is zoomed in to show the hospital - the logo is on the shorter white building to the left of the cranes (the cranes are part of hospital construction).

i love mason's face in this one.

for the first time ever, we fed the goats.  each boy got a single cracker.  mason broke his up into dime sized pieces and fed most of the goats and sheep.  he didn't want any of them to be left out and he paces himself.  it takes a long time but he is just so sweet.  maddux on the other hand was a little frightened of the goats and took a different approach.

the thought with going to the zoo was to wear them out so that they would all nap on the way home.  they were up late last night because madelyn had soccer practice and matt had to take all four kids because i had a pto meeting. but then he had fantasy football draft once they got home and had to wait for me to get home to put the kids to bed.  so anyway - the kids were tired.  and our day wasn't' going to end after the zoo.  

thankfully the boys were all three asleep before i even got on the interstate so they all got a decent nap just on in the drive home.  maddux went back to sleep when we got home and manning stayed asleep when i moved him to his crib.

we got home around 3 and madelyn's bus comes around 4.  as soon as she got off the bus, we (all four kids and i) walked over to get another neighbor who is in 1st grade to come over a play until 5:30.  i made dinner while they were playing and then drove her home (the walking was way too far and took too long).  matt had come home early (and was sick) so i left the boys with him to free up a carseat for the neighbor.  then home to rush through dinner and take the big kids to church for the mid-week kids' programs that started tonight.

whew.

the kids weren't in bed until after 9 and all three have school in the morning.  as we were leaving, mason and madelyn noticed some dogs running on the baseball fields across the parking lot.  maddux started screaming and ran back towards the church.  he is that afraid of dogs.  and, yes, we have a dog.  i don't know why he was so afraid and it took a lot of convincing that the dogs could not reach him.

even with all of the things we did today, it wasn't stressful at all.  in fact, i would say that it was a pretty great day.  but i might have scheduled things a little too tight.  love.