A night at the drive in

Friday we planned on taking the all six children to the drive in that is at least an hour drive from hour house. That planned quickly failed when the tahoe would not start. So we unloaded and unpacked six kids from the car. Plan B was to fix the tahoe and go saturday night. Tahoe fixed, we hoped. Saturday came and again we started the process of packing the car with blankets pillows and concealed outside food. Our hopes soon faded with the first turn of the key. They didn't get any higher with the other thirty turns that followed. Plan C was to borrow a car from a family member. The children and I unloaded the tahoe and transferred everything into the trunk of my car while we waited for car number 2 to arrive. With the arrival of car number 2 we quickly buckeled all six kids into the two cars and headed out to the drive in. After what seemed like forever we arrived at the drive in. The entire ride I was worried we would get there last and miss the start of the movie. Not to mention would there even be two spaces next to one another. The weather forecast of isolated thunderstorms was not one of my worries what were the odds. As soon as we turned into the lot I was relieved to see that we were not the only ones just getting there. There was about five cars in front of us. You would think that paying was a quick process. Not when it is an 80 year old woman. While waiting I had imagined all the conversations she was having with the cars in front of us. "How is your mom?" "Tell her I said hi." "Oh wow are your kiddos getting big! How old are they now?" After all we live in a small tight knit area where everyone knows everyone. Any other day this would not have bothered me but after putting forth such effort to get here and enjoy the night, the thought of her stopping to talk was irritating. Finally it was our turn. She walked up to my window and asked how many and the ages of my kids so as that she could slowly do the mental math in her head. Then she asked me if we had any outside food or drink. I had a flash of my children tellin her "Yes we have chips and the huggies we take to camp." Thankfully they were to focused on getting inside. I quickly responded with NO. There was no way I was paying $3.00 for a box of skittles! Once inside the fence we drove to a spot that allowed us to park next to eachother. The movie had just started. We unloaded and set up the chairs and blankets and pillows and began passing around our outside food and drink. There was a truck of four adults to our left and a couple on a car on our right. The first movie was eclipse. The movie plot gave and array of mixed emotions among my kids. While a few were excited to see werewolves and vampires a few were scared. This made for alot of reassuring that there would be no vampires or werewolves coming to eat anyone anytime soon. To top off the event the isolated thunderstorms had isolated themselves not far from us. It was quite the light show. Although for some reason it didn't seem to alarm the children in the least. At one point I was certain it would pour down rain but it held off. The first movie ended without any real melt downs from any of the kids including the baby. Intermission made for and eventful half hour which seemed like three hours. The baby was over sitting in the car so we set her on the blanket. She has a weird fear of grass. She isn't fond of touching it with her hands. This helped with keeping her on the blanket. The rest of the kids were dancing and releasing all the pent up energy they had accquired during the last movie. I laid on the blanket with my boyfriend and our baby. The children were getting louder and louder. My first instinct was to rally them all and have the inside voice talk. Instead I left them go and hoped that the nieghboring cars would not get mad. The second movie started just in time. I was close to putting them all in the car to go home. I wish I could tell you what the second movie was like but I am way to old for the drive in. I fell asleep. Not sure if the kids made it thru the movie either. The drive home was dark and long. My eyes were still a little fuzzy from my nap. We made it home by 2:30am. The drive in was not as fun as it once was when I was younger. It used to be fun to go and hang out and see friends and act up. I guess it still is fun just in a different way. It was fun to see the kids reclined in the driver seat and working the wipers. Watching them use there blankets as capes and running in circles. This almost seemed to happen in slow motion like in the movies during a flash back. None the less I did enjoy every minute of it. Especially the nap!

Was the zoo always this small?

We took a trip to the zoo yesterday. I think in the days leading up to it I was more excited than my kids were. I was anxious to see the look on their faces as we walked to each animal habitat and honestly I haven't been there since I was a child so I to couldn't wait to see the animals. The day started off early. It involved alot of bowls of cereal clean outfits and finding a match to a shoe. I began to have flashes of home alone. What if in the chaos of getting all the kids ready and loaded into the car we forgot one. So started the repeated counting of children. My baby went with my in laws for the day. As much as I love her I could not imagine taking such a small child amongst the older ones for a three hour drive one way and a six hour walk through the zoo. She wouldn't have remembered it anyways.

My sister finally arrived as we were loading seven kids in the tahoe. After dropping her baby off at the sitter we were on our way. We didn't map quest or google the directions. After all we were born and raised there so even if we missed a turn we should of been able to navigate our way. Not to mention there would be signs? Yea by signs I mean two. There was one right off the exit and one at the zoo. Needless to say we were lost in the heart of the ghetto. First sign you are lost in the ghetto is when you drive past the sickle cell society. We were not stopping for directions. If it had just been me I would have had no problem but with eleven kids I wasn't about to stop and possibly run into a problem. So we kept driving til we got somewhere that looked slightly less run down and googled and tom tom'd for directions. After our fifteen minute detour we arrived at the zoo just as the gates opened. The process of herding eleven kids a stroller and our cooler had started. We looked like a small school or possibly a day care. Which gave me the great idea of the buddy system. Yep we all had a buddy. It was just another thing for my sister and I to yell "GET YOUR BUDDY." The kids all held up pretty good only a few minor melt downs. That was our cue to serve lunch so we took over two picnic tables just outside of the aquarium and passed out the pre packed bagged lunches. Hey with fourteen people it was way cheaper and easier to pack. This to also added to the small school look of our group. It was funny to hear people through out the day tell their two kids to move over cause there was a big group coming. What was not fun to hear was my kids ask me what was on the monkey. I had no answer I just laughed and walked away. Thankfully they quickly forgot about it cause I wasn't about to have "THE TALK" in the middle of the troical rain forest exhibit. We went to every animal exhibit and took pictures and read fun facts. Before I knew it we were back at the gates. It had taken us gour hours from start to finish. To my kids this seemed like all day. To me it went fast. I thought for sure we would be there for the full six hours and even with all that time I had been worried we wouldn't see everything. Maybe the zoo wasn't smaller I was just older and the excitment of the animals was not as big as I had remembered. I am sure when my kids are older and with children of their own they to may have the same question "Was the zoo always this small?"

It can't rain all the time.

I had planned to take the kids to Whipples again today but the sky seemed to be getting darker and darker. So instead we spent the day inside. The kids peeked out of the windows all day insisting that it was not going to rain and that it was safe to go swimming. Somehow I found that hard to believe considering that the weather channel showed different. With all the extra free time we had you would think that we would pack for our over night camping trip. Think again! I just couldn't find the motivation to gather up tents, sleeping bags, and numerous outfits for four children. Thank God for my friend cause without her the process may have never started. My children waited all day for her arrival. Believe me it was not a patient process either. At least once every tweny minutes or so one of the three kids able to talk would ask where she was and how long til she got here. I swear if the baby could talk she would have got in on the rotation of repetitive questioning. She finally arrived a little after four just like she said she would. Which is good cause it renewed faith in my childrens eyes that I was not the liar they insisted I was when I said it wasn't time yet. My friend quickly got down to business and asked the kids to help her with the camping stuff. After a trip to walmart for food and dinner it was time to wind down. Try to tell that to a three year old who is overly excited to see my friend who he calls his aunt. He must have said her name a million times to get her attention so as that she could watch him run jump and dive head first into what I call my expensive living room set that I happen to be fond of. The idea of toddler spit and boogers stuck to it make me cringe and want to grab a damp cloth and a dryer sheet (it is a micro fiber couch). Although all the camping things were neatly piled in my downstairs hallway it seemed like the rain would never let up. Even if it was just for five minutes I could have packed the back of the tahoe. Needless to say I was just able to complete that task just a few minutes ago. Now it seems that the rain has stopped for how long I don't know. All I know is it needs to stay away for just a day. My kids are looking forward to this camping trip and if the rain ruins it they will never let me forget it.