Making Lemonade

I am recovering this morning from making lemonade.

Last week this time I was very excited about a weekend getaway we were going to take to visit friends in Indiana. Unfortunately, our plans were put on hold early in the week, and I was disappointed. Much of my life these days is wrapped up in what I am looking forward to (and at that time I didn't know my parents are planning a visit in a couple of weeks—Yay!). So I had to come up with something else to look forward to. I succeeded! I succeeded in making so many plans we all finished the weekend exhausted. But I also succeeded in making lots of new memories.

Saturday — Painting Connor's Room!

We've been planning all along to paint the kids' rooms, and I even had the paint waiting in the basement. I don't want my dad ("the painter") to feel obligated to do it when he comes to visit, so I decided this was the perfect time. I (wisely) decided only to tackle one child's room this weekend, and Connor's required the least preparation (ie. the least amount of crap to haul out of it) before I could begin, so he won. We started the day with a trip to Home Depot for supplies, and then I got to work. Chris made lunch and offered emotional support, and practical support later in the day. My first attempt at painting a room on my own was very successful — and supremely exhausting!

My boy does love green!

Sunday — Patio Set

We tried an new church Sunday morning, a bit more of a drive from our place than the others have been. Neither of us felt like it was one that we could see ourselves attending regularly, but at least we've ruled it out and we can move on. However, on the way home I joked "Well, one good thing about attending that church would be that Costco is conveniently located on the way home!" Chris suggested that we stop in at Costco and see if they had a patio set we'd been looking for. No luck — but we still bought plenty of groceries. While I was making lunch I (not very seriously) suggested to Chris that he should go right out and get the patio set we had seen the day before at Home Depot. I stepped outside to put the burgers on the bbq, and when I came back in, he was gone. Twenty minutes later he was back with a brand new patio set — that we spent the afternoon putting together. Well, not all afternoon. I did get some time to sit in the comfy new chairs and read a book.

Monday — The Toronto Zoo

What better way to spend the holiday Monday than a trip to the zoo? Yes, that is exactly what the MILLION people who joined us at the zoo in 30C weather were thinking! We left about an hour behind schedule, drove two hours, and arrived in a 20 minute traffic jam at the parking lot. But by noon we had refueled with granola bars, plenty of water and sunblock and were ready to check out the animals. The restaurants were packed, so we waited a couple of hours to eat lunch. We didn't pressure ourselves to see the whole park. We knew that polar bears were high on the list of priorities, so we headed there first. Then we were off to see the African animals.

"Where do we go first?"

The polar bear exhibit — our unanimous favourite. Although Chris and I both felt sorry for the bears in that way too small pool!

I love the giraffes!

Amazing fish! So many kinds in one aquarium!

We got to the elephants just in time to hear the zoo keeper talk and watch one of the elephants do some exercises. Way cool!

Lazy lion enjoying a nap in the sun.

We ate lunch, walked as much as we could, and took the zoomobile around the park. Then Daddy did the 15 minute walk to the car, while the kids and I went to see the kangaroos and made a quick visit to the splash pad (fully clothed, but it felt wonderful!). At five o'clock, we were back in the car, the kids settled in with their DVDs, and ready for the long ride home.

By 7:00 I was cooking in my kitchen, counting the minutes until the kids would be tucked in bed, and I could climb into my jacuzzi.

I was completely spent after an extra-busy long weekend. But I had made lemons into lemonade!