Today we took the kids to the zoo. And I started a blog. As always, I’m sure I’ll end the day
wondering if I’m totally insane.
So first the zoo: After
an hour of coaxing, pushing, and prodding, we finally wrestled the three kids
into the car—with all of their accompanying backpacks, hats, phones, nooks,
drinks, and etc. It’s not easy finding
family activities that hold the interest of a teenage girl, a tech geek tween,
and a self-proclaimed “little kid,” but it was the end of our spring break, we
were new to Portland, and who doesn’t love a baby elephant?
 |
| Lily |
About ten minutes away from the house, Peapod piped up, “I
has no shoes.” Holy crap. You can take a kid to a lot of places without
shoes, but the zoo ain’t one of them.
Ken gave me a long look.
Apparently there was no going back.
After a trip to Old Navy, Peapod rocked a new pair of
sandals (and the teen scored new sunglasses and ipod headphones—damn she’s
good), and we were finally on our way.
“Hey dad, I’m staaaarrrrrrrving.” Epiczord now from the back
seat. “Can we have Einstein’s bagels?”
If Ken has taught me one thing, it’s feed the children
constantly or game over to happy adventures.
Apparently the bags of cheddar bunnies consumed while I was grabbing shoes
didn’t suffice.
After a 20 minute sideline for bagels we were back on our
way.
Parking full.
Adjacent lots full. Edge of road
full. After another 20 minutes of
winding through the area, Ken masterfully created his own parking spot in an
off-limits zone of the lot. Done and
done.
0.8 miles on the park trail down to the zoo. Kids are actually excited and bouncing their
way through tall Oregon trees—the fresh air feels good. Singing abounds. Fifteen minutes later, the Princess asks, “Didn’t
the last post say 0.34mi left? Why does
this one say 0.58mi?”
Awww, crap.
Ok, so we finally hit the zoo. And it’s sweet as far as small zoos go. The baby elephant was adorable, the bats were
cool. But basically it’s the same
experience that you have at most zoos where the animals are sitting there and
you wish that they would do something but you know that if you were in a cage
at the zoo and it was the first sunny day in a long time, you would probably
lie there in the middle of the patch of sun and bask as well. (And you’d be thinking, you all paid $50 to
see me do this—suckers!)
 |
| OMG--HE OPENED HIS EYES! |
Yet, as we parked ourselves on the benches in front of the
gift shop at the end of our day, and Peapod cuddled his new stuffed Raccoon,
and the Princess snuggled up to the giant bear for a photo, and Epiczord donned his
shades that serve as a straw for soda, I realized that Papa and I got just the
souvenir we wanted—a day of adding to the foundation of a new family. For $50?
For $100? Hells yeah. The perfect trip.
And now for the blog part:
Each night, I wonder at the crazy happenings in this house. I shake my head and ask myself, do other
parents go through this? Do other
girlfriends struggle as I do, to carve out space in a pre-established
family? What about other women hitting
40, fighting to stay fit and find meaning in their “mid-life?”
Because these things rattle through my brain, I’m starting a
blog. It’s a lot cheaper than
vodka.
