Yesterday I felt like SuperMom. I actually left the house with all three kids by myself. I know for those of you who have already mastered the art of leaving the house this is not a big deal, but for me, it was something to write about.
And that's what I'm doing.
On the way home from Ethan's baseball game Wednesday night, we passed this place:
It's a forest preserve about 8 minutes from my house.
We've never been there. So, in the morning, we woke up and we went. The weather was really perfect and the kids needed to get out of the house (and so did I) so we hopped in the car and off we went. It was so beautiful. And peaceful. And I don't know why I convince myself taking my kids out without Adam is going to be so difficult.
They were amazing.
And a little freaky-looking:
Sophia wanted a picture with just Sam, but when Ethan got booted, he drew the Hobbit's attention with no problem:
Sam never did quite master the art of posing for a photo.
Then Sophia wanted to take some pictures. I'm all for children loving photography, so I handed over the camera and posed with these two monkeys.
Between these two, I look incredibly normal. Or boring. Take your pick.
My kids are so NOT adventurous. I wonder where they get that from. I am hoping to change that... little by little. Even walking out to this log was scary for them. (and, in their defense, they ARE wearing flip flops...)
It took some coaxing to get Ethan out there, but finally he agreed. He sat on the log...Sophia refused. She squatted instead. (Priss)
I was thinking how sweet these photos turned out when they both did this:
We had to move to a bench in order to get Sam in the picture. He would NOT step foot in the leaves...
Rounded a corner and found some random cows. My kids starting mooing at them. Sam, bringing up the rear, started running, glanced at the cows, shouted one loud "MOO!" and kept on following Ethan.
We turned down a path where we were promised water. We weren't promised mosquitoes, but they showed up anyway. Isn't that kind of them? They made a feast of our blood.
Found the creek...
Does anyone else notice Sam's tongue hasn't been inside his mouth for a single shot? Not a single one.
Bath through the dragonfly filled path and we stumbled upon this pond:
We heard the strangest honking sound and thought it was ducks.
Soon realized there were no ducks in site...but then we spotted this guy...
And this one...
And knew that's where the honk/croak was coming from. Sophia was having trouble spotting them, but Ethan helped her...
That's just the kind of guy he is.
He wanted a walking stick. Which was fine until they almost smacked me in the face. I draw the line at face injuries.
You wanna know something amazing? Nobody fought the whole time. They stepped up to help each other. They were happy and fun.
Even pasty-colored Mommy didn't stress out. At all. :)
Now, taking them to see Shrek was a different story. Bad call on my part to do that instead of naptime. Sam was terrible.
Thankfully, the other two had fun anyway.
Conclusion: I need...we all need...to get out more!
