best mom ever

Guess where we went yesterday? C'mon take guess? You'll never guess. In the rain, no less!

That's right, folks. I took my children to the zoo!

I want to thank the extremely patient zoo employee who took this picture. My lens adjustments were off and that made the camera not work and it took me more time than I care to admit to fix it and she just kindly waited.

As some of you may know, I don't care for the zoo. This is a life-long aversion. I even remember giving Kathryn trouble for wanting to have have her 12th or 13th birthday at Binder Park Zoo and told her I wouldn't come should she have the nerve to host her birthday there. Kathryn, I'd like to take this time to publicly apologize for being so obnoxious.

Yesterday was a rough day. Avery was not feeling well and his attitude reflected it. Besides the new hair cut (no cupcakes this time!) there were so many time-outs, so many toys taken away, a little bit of hitting which is not typical and he even found the time to wrap something around his Sister's neck despite the fact that I was right there! Plus, I had to keep plugging in to work because there were poster's to be made and conference calls to attend. 

Despite my valiant attempts, he did not nap and Viv only slept about 45 minutes which means, by the time it was 3pm, I needed to get out of the house despite the looming storm clouds in the sky. Since we had just purchased a zoo membership (I think Nikki was quite sick of the Children's Museum) and it is only a few minutes away, I thought, let's go walk around the zoo. I know.

It was actually my best zoo experience because it wasn't hot or crowded, all of the animals were very active and the giraffes were just spectacular. The rain held off until we were almost done and then it poured. I certainly got my cardio in by running with the double stroller from the back of the zoo to the parking lot. It was actually pretty fun. No one cried. Everyone cooperated as I reloaded the car and we all got a much needed adventure.

Unfortunately, the rotten attitude returned as soon as we got home, but today is going much better. I have threatened not to take him to the family carnival with Eli tomorrow should he choose to be a bad listener or have fits.

A little parental adage that I really try to keep in mind is that just when you feel like hugging your kids the least is probably when they need it the most. This is very true for Avery and even when I am so frustrated with his behavior I try to remember this.