Sunday, August 2, 2009

Zoo times!











A couple of weeks ago, a friend and I took a trip to the Nashville Zoo with our 4 kiddos. It was our first outing with the new babies. Our kids are almost exactly the same age- Drew and Tyler are 4 days apart and will be 3 in September. Caroline was 3 weeks and Zachary 8 weeks. I still felt like I was recooperating physically but was itching to have some fun at the same time. I love the zoo, mainly the elephants and giraffes, and I was super excited!
We spent the first hour or more letting Drew and Tyler play in the gigantic jungle gym while trying to keep the babies cool and shaded. There is a big area that is cushioned perfect for letting kids run like animals. Tyler and Drew were literally bouncing off the walls. They had big smiles on their faces the whole time! I had a couple scares when Drew would take off in this huge jungle gym and I would have to go climbing and yelling for him. I would hear his little voice answer me "over here mommy" which gave me the peace I needed until I could find him. His lack of fear never ceases to amaze me. I found him climbing big, scary things he's never seen before and it made me a nervous wreck. He was wet with sweat and had a bright red face, but was having the time of his life. It is such a good feeling when you can actually feel the fun your kids are having. I continued to let him be brave while I remained a nervous wreck.
We finally left the jungle gym in search for the elephants, giraffes, and monkeys. Drew likes the big African animals just like his mommy does. I really think I could sit and stare at an elephant all day for some reason. He said "that elephant is big, what got him so big"? "That giraffe is WAAAYYY up there mommy"! He was also really curious as to why monkeys do all that scratching. "Why that monkey doing that, he itch?!?" I could probably sit and stare at a monkey all day too.
The boys got sleepy early on and we were hot and exhausted. We were reminded that we had just had babies, were sleep deprived, and hormonal. I have been having headaches almost every day since having Caroline and could feel one coming on. As far as we know, the babies never even caught a glimpse of the zoo! They both slept peacefully the entire time we were there. We decided to cut the trip a little short but still had a great time.
Drew was asleep and my headache had gone full throttle before we were out of the parking lot. We drove home and I carried my sleeping babies inside. I nursed Caroline and she went right back to sleep. "Yes!" I thought to myself. This mommy was pooped! I crawled into my bed and fell right to sleep. 35 minutes later, the doorbell rings, the dog barks (because the doorbell rang), Drew yells out "mommy" (because the dog was barking), and Caroline lets out one of her little wimpers (because the dog was barking and her brother was yelling mommy across the house). I run to the door mad at whoever it was that started all of this. It was a man trying to sell steaks out of his truck! Mmm..don't think so, I said. I closed the door, told the dog to shut up, and rescued my babies. So much for my nap..wasn't meant to be I suppose...but I will take 35 minutes of naptime any day! Oh, the joys of motherhood...

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