zoo date

i was super excited for our zoo date with kim, brady, and brooklyn. it had been awhile since i have gone with olive and she is now at an age where she would really enjoy it!

it was a really tough morning…ellie was suuuuuper fussy {very unlike her} and i was having a rough morning getting things done with a crying baby. she was not happy. i was a bit stressed and i was running behind. kim said i could cancel but that would sooo be unlike me to do such a thing! i just told her i would be 15 minutes later than expected.

we finally arrived and it was buuuusy! kim and i had no idea it was a kid’s free admission day…oy! there were droves of people there! i was secretly hoping kids were in school and it would be quiet and easy for us to navigate around. ha! not the case that day!

well, our morning started off right. the animals were out and olive and brady were warming up to each other and having fun looking at the animals. we walked around and it was great. kim and i did our best to watch our kids and catch up with one another. brady was too cute…he so wanted to hold olive’s hand but she was not having it! hahaha! it was too cute.

we were able to see the lions, cheetahs, gorillas, giraffes, sea lions, walruses, and more! we were walking around for a couple hours and during that span, we sat down for a quick lunch. it was after lunch when everything spiraled down hill for me. ugh. and i mean UGH. i won the worst mom of the year award for being so absolutely unprepared! welcome to the world of having two kids and learning a few big lesson along the way!

like i said, it had been awhile since i had been to the zoo and when i did go to the zoo with olive, she was just a baby in a stroller. well, now she is a walking toddler and i didn’t think about how long we would be walking and how tired she would get, on top of how hot it was! i didn’t think it was going to be that hot, so the heat factor killed us!

so, not only was it steaming hot, olive was exhausted and i didn’t have a wagon or a double stroller to put her in. she had to walk and i felt like the worst mom in the world. she cried for me to pick her up but i could only do that for a minute or two before i had to put her down. i mean, carry a toddler and try to push a stroller with one hand?! i was not super women! olive would cry out of frustration that i couldn’t carry her. i felt soooooo bad because she was so tired.

here’s another reason why i win worst mom of the year award, i ran out of the house in a rush and i forgot her water bottle…so she didn’t have water. yes, i bought a bottle of water for her to drink but there was not straw so she didn’t gulp as much as she usually does and of course, i felt terrible! i also didn’t bring enough snacks. yes…who am i?! this behavior is sooooo unlike me!!!

then ellie needed a feeding but i couldn’t bring myself to feed her…it was too hot! i couldn’t fathom putting my baby under a hot cover and feeding her in this heat! i was stressed about that and to top it all off…ellie started to turn into a tomato. yes, it was so hot outside, she started to overheat. argh! i freaked out.

i told kim i had to leave. i needed to get both my girls out of the heat! i felt bad and told her she could stay but she insisted on leaving as well. it was the worst walk back to the car…olive wanted me to hold her the whole way back and i couldn’t. she had mini meltdowns along the way and a few times ellie cried out in hunger. this mama was sweating. we finally made it back to the car and i loaded my girls in and blasted the air. phew! we drove through a starbucks, got drinks for everyone and i fed my little ellie and we were all happy campers! woo hoo!

after this crazy escapade, hc purchased an attachment to our stroller that allows olive to sit down or stand up on it! woo hoo! so, next time we hit up the zoo, {after learning some valuable lessons} i will totally be ready and prepared to be there for a few hours and really enjoy our total experience!!