We set out on Saturday to check out the famous Tulip Festival that happens every April in the town of Mt. Vernon Washington. The drive to get there for us coming from Redmond is about an hour so I made sure to pick a day when the sun would be shining and I would have plenty of time(or so I thought :/ ). Last Saturday seemed to be the best day. What I didn't expect was that on top of the 2 hours just to get there and back , there would be another 2 and half hours of sitting in our car with bumper to bumper traffic. However, despite all the time spent in our car it was worth the 2 hours we got to walk around and see such beauty. SO, like everything in life if it's something good that happens every year you have to be prepared to share it with others, and to sit in TRAFFIC! Next year I will be sure to bring a kite to fly, sunglasses for all, rain boots for all(well these we brought the boys just refused to wear them) a picnic lunch, lots of things to do for the kids while we sit in unmoving traffic, and most importantly my Giant.
So as not to deceive my faithful few readers, although the day may have looked as if it was picture perfect it was not. My boys were a constant reminder to me that I might not be cut out for parenting two male children. They were a royal pain in the a** and I was about to seriously lose it with them before I realized I was in public and in Washington no less where I might be reported to the CPS. The girls were bickering the whole time about the boys and I had to bribe half of them with ice cream to smile in the pictures. I knew I had lost the battle when Sol after totaling his shoes in a big mud puddle looked up at me with a big smile on his face and said, " I don't care if I don't get any ice cream".
I was reminded of how difficult the life of the single parent must be without having my better half there to back me up. And by the time the very long car ride home came about I was feeling like quite the schmuck by making us all late for a dinner date with our new friend. (Hope she can forgive me for not only this but for doing her dishes as well, so as to appease some of my guilt).
Still after all these set backs I do plan to go again, but never again as the ONLY adult!!
8 comments:
Being late was no trouble at all. It gave us time to help upstairs, so it all worked out perfectly!
I must admit that it was great to come back and have most of the dishes done. What a great thing to do dishes while talking to friends.
Your kids were uber-ly well behaved at my house. Ain't it the case that they are always their worst in front of parents?
Sigh.
Your family is always welcome here. We'll try to keep some violent movies on hand for your boys. ;-)
great post, Noel. I appreciate your realness :)...
You look like you are on the set of The Wizard of Oz. You should have made your kids dress up!
Priya- Jason cracked me up and is STILL making me laugh with his "Seriously inappropriate for that age" comment. Chuckle, chuckle, snicker, snicker about the fact that Mo was there to hear that, totally awesome.
Erica- Ya know me keeping it real in this mothering gig is something I hope to always do. Toughest job on the planet outside of being the single parent.
Shontelly- SHOCK, AWE, she's ALIVE!! Hang in there friend more time for blogging is ahead of you.
Oh yes, Shontell... that would have been a great way to get my children back. Make them wear their Wizard of Oz costumes two sizes too small by now. Still you are so right it does look like there should be a yellow brick road somewhere.
noel, you haven't made it to the age girls are a royal pain in the a**. good luck!
tasha, actually my girls are a GOD send. don't know what I would do with out em. because i was raised in a female dominant house i feel much more equipped to be a parent of girls than boys. i will think i will forever be questioning whether or not my boys are okay and if i should be concerned for their actions because what they do just baffles me. however, they make me laugh so hard and i do think with mo's help we will be just fine.
you are right noel i think i will just stop at 2! ah well this year it will be an awesome tulip festival!
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