Thursday, August 20, 2015

Our Last Day of Summer's Over Denial In Which We Take Our Monkeys to the Zoo

Hello there, fellow moms of high-schoolers and/or middle-schoolers who, like me, might also be wondering who stole their adorable little babies and replaced them with growing-up-too-fast-teenagers.
Would someone please bring me my walker and bag of bingo daubers?

Because, honestly, when life decides to speed along at this pace, I might as well face the music and realize that, in a snap, I'm going to be pushing eighty.  {Should my boys let me live that long.}

You know how I know this? I know it, because I FEEL it.
Just this morning, when I was trying not to let tears self-pity drip down onto the boys' waffles as I watched their big blurry figures stumble into the kitchen half asleep, I wondered what happened to my babies, the ones whose mornings once consisted of Bob the Builder, snacks, and nap time.

I know I'm on a permanent soapbox with this issue, but MOMS OF LITTLES, hear this (again):
Savor the time you have with your babies.  Slow down.  Put the phone down.  Step away from the computer.  Play with them, snuggle, go for walks, read a lot of books then read some more, climb trees, go exploring, take naps, visit their land of make-believe, let them get messy - make a mess too, and hug them over and over and over again.

I realize it's not easy - being a mom to little ones takes insane amounts of patience and energy. They can suck the life out of you, those offspring of ours. Sometimes I look at the spectrum of ages in our home from one to fourteen and consider all that is required of me just to keep them fed, clothed and educated, and I think it's a miracle that I'm still alive.

Thank you, Jesus.

But, I'm telling you, even in the heat of the battle, you have to find a way to embrace the beauty, or you'll miss it.  And, once it's gone, you can't get it back.

Do you know what I'm saying? I say it with love.

Moving on...

The Husband family has had a very intense summer, a mix of good and not so good, and because it has been such a busy summer, I feel that we haven't had a moment to exhale. And now it's time for school to begin again.

The feeling kind of reminds me of my high school days of playing sports when we'd finish running a bunch of sprints and, just when we thought the agony was over and we could catch our breathe, the coach would blow his whistle and yell at us to run 'em again.

With no time to squeeze in a vacation - even a staycation - before school, I decided to scrape together what was left of summer and make something grand out of it.  So, on Sunday evening, we had a family back to school night, which consisted of a quick trip to the zoo, dining out, and ice cream.

Sometimes I get it in my head that big memories have to be made in a big way.  Not so.

I hope we can look back at all of the little moments of the summer that we've pieced together doing simple, ordinary things - just being together, really - and find that those moments fill a big place in our hearts.

Here we go....our moment of denial, pushing back against the force of school for one more day...
Does it take anyone else an eternity to get everyone out of the car and into the destination, or is it just me?
 ...and 27 minutes later, we're finally walking toward the zoo.
 We've been here for a walloping 4.5 minutes, George, so of course you're sweating and need to take a break to cool off.  You act like you just had surgery or something.

Okay, so I know you guys don't need to see a thousand photos of the zoo animals because, boring.

But, I just have to show you these because, I'm not kidding, the first five exhibits that we went to every single animal was sleeping.  It was like they were all having sympathy pains for us.  

The Husbands are coming. Let's show them what a nap looks like...
That looks comfy.
 
Lazy lions.  You could at least muster a growl or something.
And, whatever you are, we are not impressed.
 The orangutans woke up to find their distant relatives staring at them.  
Last non-human photos, I promise!  
Tiny the gorilla was the only anamalia who kept us from asking for a ticket refund.
 This guy charged at a little girl who was standing behind the glass eating a banana (of course).  
I couldn't believe how fast he could move.
 He looks all innocent here, but seriously this guy is Kerchak on steroids.  {Tarzan fans?}

On to the cuter species...
This was Joseph's expression the entire time we strolled the zoo.  I'm not sure if it's the sun in his eyes, or the look of being completely underwhelemed.
 Charlie reminds me not to miss the little things.  He's very curious about surroundings, wanting to touch, count, ask questions.  It's such a joy to watch his fresh discovery of everything that seems so ordinary to most of us.
 Pausing for a picture {moans and groans}.
These snapshots are such a treasure for me, because I understand that one day Benedict and Charile will both be grown men, and I very much hope that they still depend on one another then the way that they do now.  
Benedict has big shoulders.  I know, because he's carried me a time or two.
 Should we leave them for a while? They seem to fit in so well here!
I'm sure no one would question us - especially when you're wearing such a classy shirt 'n all.
Moving on to TGI Fridays for some Jack Daniel's burgers and *other* refreshments.  Cheers!
To commemorate a brand new year of educational privilege,
I asked the boys to show me their best "great thinkers" pose.  
George, in yet another moment of brilliance, suggested we get ice-cream.

Ready or not, school, here we come!

2 comments:

  1. I second your little chat with moms of littles. I am having a rough go this year with my youngest now in all day kindergarten. I love, love, love having little kids around me all day. But, enough crying...
    Looks like a great way to grab the last bit of summer. Yes, it takes us an everliving eternity to get from the car to the inside of any park. Applying sunscreen alone takes 15 minutes if we're lucky!
    Good luck to your school-bound boys!

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  2. My youngest starts Kindergarten next week and I feel like I'm on the verge of tears every other time I think about it. I had a breakdown yesterday and wrote about it on the ole blog and this morning my husband told me he was teary reading my post - so now maybe I've proven to him I'm not a total emotional lunatic : )

    Also, it took us a solid 45 minutes to prep to go to the beach - hair, sunscreen, potty - before we actually made it out there and that was only with 3!

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