On A Whim...

Yesterday was another atrociously hot day so around 11AM I got this bright idea to pack a lunch for the kids and take them to Small World Park. I packed the lunch and sunscreen and thought to myself I had better check how to get there because it had been awhile and I wanted to make sure I got off on the right exit. As I was browsing the website I noticed that it said open Thursday through Sunday. WTF? I could swear it was open daily. I read it again. Oh great.

Since the lunch was packed and the girls knew we were going on an outing we jumped in the truck and drove to the zoo. I have several free passes for entrance, parking, and rides thanks to a friend of mine so we can go as often as we want and we don't have to stay all day to get our money's worth. The drive was easy, not much traffic, Ava napped slightly, and Livy just stared out the window. It was bliss. I thought to myself we really should do outings like this more often.

We arrived at the zoo and we were lucky enough to acquire the parking spot right by the entrance. Sweet. I love when we can actually park somewhere where we are not a mile away. We flashed our passes and walked through the gate and it was babies and strollers galour. Since we parked so close we didn't use our stroller. I had packed the lunches in Liv's backpack which she proudly wore on her back and I had my small backpack with the sunscreen, wipes, a jug of ice tea along with my wallet and keys. I didn't bring anything extra like a change of panties if Ava had an accident or anything. I figured we had 3 and a half hours we should be ok. Hopefully.

We headed to the rides first. The girls love the carousel. We walked right up to it and picked out our animals to ride on. Olivia wanted to sit by a dark haired little girl so she rode the zebra and Ava sat a few animal ahead because she wanted to ride the jaguar. When the ride began and the music started Ava's face was beaming. She was so pleased with herself. "I ride by myself Mommy!" She exclaimed. Awesome. Next they flew the airplanes and then we headed for the restaurant area so we could eat lunch.

Soon we were finished eating, we had applied our sunscreen, and we had not seen one animal yet after being there for an hour and a half so I said let's ride the train around the park and see all the animals at one time. Ok- lesson learned. The train ride is only a train ride with nothing to see but statues of animals. So we jumped off and went to the kid zoo and petting area. We saw the bats, lizards, turtles, tortoises, pigs, alligators, and we petted the goats. After a quick potty break we called Daddy to let him know we would be picking him up when he got off of work and then we headed up the hill to see the monkeys. The girls get so excited to see the monkeys jumping and swinging. They talked to them and danced for them and then we proceeded up the hill again to see the large animals.

It was at this time that it occurred to me that Ava really could hold her own. She had been walking for almost 3 hours all over the park and she was keeping up with Livy and I the whole time. The other important thing was that she was not having any blowouts and we were at the park during her nap time. I guess we just need to get out of the house more often. So now I had figured I was going to make them keep walking until we had to leave and they should just hit the truck and go to sleep. It never really works how I plan...

We saw the elephants, tiger, camels, and giraffes. We rested on a bench and drank some water and gobbled down a noka bar (granola bar) and applied a lit more sunscreen and called Dave to make sure he'd be leaving work in the next 10 minutes. He said yes so we made our way back to the truck. The girls had had a blast. It had been on a total whim and everything worked out so smoothly. When the girls were locked in their seats I handed them a bottle of water and some gold fish crackers and headed to the closest BART to pick up my hubby. Here is where I imagined they would go to sleep and Dave and I would ride home with smiles on our faces in eternal bliss. Or not.

We arrived at the station and as he approached the truck and they started screaming an ear piercing scream, "DADDDDDYYYYYY!!!!" And that was how we rode home for the next hour...

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Although my hearing may have been slightly damaged, and Dave may have lost a nugget of his sanity, taking the girls out for an outing that they totally enjoy is worth the not so fun drive home. These two never stopped talking, giggling, screeching, until we dropped Dave off at his car at the BART by our house. Then they decided to... go to sleep. Of course. So long as Dave and I couldn't get a word in edgewise with each other in the truck their mission had been accomplished and they could pass out. The five minutes after that that it took to get home was refreshing. I heard a song on the radio, and I parked in the garage without 15 questions as to what I was doing, and I could say hello to Dave without chatter in the background. Oh glorious silence!

Tonight we head to the A's game. It's a night game so this should be interesting. Maybe the girls will sleep on the way home from that...