Thursday, April 19, 2012

Getting There

People say, 'getting there is half the fun!' well if your fun involves a little bit of gong show and a few diaper changes then that is defiantly true for me getting anywhere.

Planning for larger/early morning trips starts the night before
-pack lots of snacks the girls can easily eat: bread, cheese, applesauce, cheerios, dried mango, carrots for me and waters for all
-lay out warm clothes for the girls (not necessary, but helpful and it makes me feel prepared)
-make sure diaper bag is stocked with diapers for all three, two outfits for C (she is at the poop explosion stage) and one for k&j, just incase, and lots of wipes -try to decide what stroller to take
-decide that I will decide when to wake up when C wakes up in the night (usually around 4-6)

C ends up sleeping until 7 (later than usual) usually I change her and then feed her but I though I may be able to feed her quick and lie down for a little longer and change her right before we go but the girls wake up before she is done (sooner than usual) so we all get up and get going.

Now I...
-change toddler diapers, get them dressed and give them cheerios (they eat cheerios most mornings while I feed C/make their breakfast)
-start oatmeal
-change C, she pooped on her sleeper so I change her into a new outfit
-finish packing snacks, double check I have everything I need in the backpack
-still trying to decide which stroller to take, the double is more comfortable and may be able to hold C when the twins are not in it, it also has. As storage compartment but it is so big! The umbrella strollers are small and and handy but don't store things and could not hold C because they don't recline.
-ask Mike about what stroller I should take as he leaves for work. (life trials of the stay at home mom: can't decide what stroller to take to the zoo - life is tough)
-eat oatmeal with K&J
-start telling them about the zoo, I think they got really excited because they did not finish their oatmeal and they usually gobble it up
-by the time we are finished with the oatmeal it is almost 9:00, it takes almost a half hour to get there and it takes me at least 10 minutes to get out the door so it is pretty much time to go, I am glad the girls woke up early, it gave us enough time to not be too rushed in the morning, just efficient
-take camera and food bag out to the van (the girls do not appreciate it when i run things out to the vehicle)
-get shoes and coats on, put C in her carseat and head out!
-arrive at the zoo, get out stroller (I decided on the double) get the twins buckled in, camera and food fit below the stroller, backpack I just put ontop (I will pass it off to a helper later) C goes in the ergo and off we go!




This all went very smoothly and was fairly straight forward, often getting out of the house at a certain time can be stressful for me but this time everything just worked out

I must have looked a little crazy with my stroller with two toddlers in it, big backpack balanced ontop by the handlebar and a baby in an ergo going to the zoo all by myself! Little did the lady who said 'wow' as I walked by realize that I was meeting my family (five sets of extra hands) there!

The penguins were so worth the line up! The girls have been talking about the zoo (aka making all the animal noises) all week, can't wait to go back!