Let's Be Honest...

I post a lot of cute pictures and fun activities on the page.  We have lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of love.  BUT, let's be honest...we have lots of reality, and not all of that reality is peaches and cream.  So, since today was one of those "not peaches and cream" days, I feel the need to post our reality (and let's be honest...have a little pity party).
Today started with sleeping in!  Jake has slept through the night until 5 or 5:30 the past several nights, so I fed him at 5, then got back into bed.  The kids woke up, but let us sleep until 7:30 or so.  It was GLORIOUS!  Then the day began...
I started getting clothes for the kids to get ready for John's 9am basketball game while Buck cooked breakfast.  I dug his jersey out of the dirty clothes explaining that he really didn't sweat that much at practice this week, so it's fine.  I dug (because I haven't gotten the new sizes into his drawers) to find 2 outfits for Jake and several burp cloths since I know he'll spit a lot through the day.  I dug to find 2 choices of things for Ellie to wear, knowing that neither would suit her fancy.  Before she looked at them she started pitching her morning fit.  I explained sternly that it's not OK to pitch a fit every morning because she doesn't like her clothes, and commenced to "help" her put them on, which escalated the fit since she wanted to do it all by herself (never mind that she refused to put them on by herself, nor is she able to get dressed completely by herself).
Buck and John went ahead and left so John could get to the game 15 minutes early to practice.  I sat downstairs and fed Jake while Ellie recommenced the clothes fit and Eve headed upstairs to explain to her (unsolicited) why she had to wear that outfit.  I asked several times for them to come downstairs to put on shoes and brush their teeth.  Neither did, so I found a stopping point to take toothbrushes to them, only to find that Ellie had completely disrobed.  I hog tied her back into her clothes (I really think I'd be great in a rodeo), then headed back downstairs to finish feeding Jake.
We all finally got into the car and were only 15 minutes late to John's game.  Not bad, except when we got there Buck told us we missed John making his first basket.  Bummer. 
After the game Buck took Jake and the girls home and I took John.  Just after apologizing for being late and missing his first basket, I closed his finger in the window.  I felt HORRIBLE!
So then, since temperatures were supposed to be near 80 and beautiful in January (crazy!) we decided to have a fun family day at the Riverbanks zoo in Columbia.  With about 30 minutes to go on the trip, the natives became restless and started to complain about starving and being in the car for HOURS.  And Jake was fussing because he was hungry too.  We stopped and ate, and all was well.
We got to the zoo with every other resident of the state that decided that 75 degrees in January is a perfect day to go to the zoo, and parked at the very back of the parking lot, waited in line, and started into the zoo.  We thoroughly enjoyed the first 30 minutes or so.
Jake started screaming, so I sat down to feed him and said I'd catch up.  A few minutes later John and Eve came up asking me if I had seen Ellie.  She had wandered off into the crowd.  I saw Buck frantically looking.  Fortunately people nearby had seen her and led him to her.  She wasn't worried, but he sure was.  All together again, they headed to see the penguins.  I was still feeding Jake, but apparently while in the penguin exhibit, John wandered off, which stressed Buck out a bit more.  He brought them out to sit for a while, which is where I found them.  Unfortunately, John wasn't happy about his reprimand and his attitude quickly spiraled downward.  I tried to cut him off at the pass and calm him down, but he was already angry and not willing to walk with us.  Buck and the girls headed on while John began to make a scene, kicking things, screaming that he didn't like me and was going to look at the animals all by himself.  I calmly suggested he calm down so we could talk and catch up, but that suggestion didn't go over well.  Several minutes later, I calmly suggested we head to the car.  That didn't go over well either.  Fortunately at that point Buck came walking up with the girls.
Ellie was almost asleep in the stroller and Eve was thirsty, so we decided to call it a day.  Buck took John, and I got in the icee line with the girls.  When we got near the front of the line and each had decided which color they wanted and were sufficiently excited about having an icee, Ellie started throwing up.  I grabbed a burp cloth to wipe it as best I could, and once I got over the initial shock, she threw up some more...and more...and LOTS more...and then some more.  So, I guess we'll get out of the icee line.  We headed through the crowd to the crowded bathroom.  We finally made our way through the door only to find there were only trough-like sinks and air dryers...NO PAPER TOWELS!  Back out through the crowded bathroom into the crowded zoo.  What in the $&#( am I going to do?  I went to the information desk and asked where I might find paper towels, and texted Buck that we might be a while getting to the car.  Shortly afterward, we saw him with a "what else can you do?" smile, carrying John, who was screaming and trying as best he could to hit Buck in the face.
The nice lady at the information desk managed to round up about 8 paper towels, a few of them wet.  It was a nice, but hugely underestimated gesture.
Back through the crowd to the crowded bathroom, I pulled Ellie out of the stroller, stripped her down to her diaper and shoes, and lifted her up to the trough sink trying my very best not to drop Jake out of the front carrier or let any vomit get on him.  I rinsed Ellie off as best I could in the automatic sink with freezing water, tossed her dirty clothes into the pool of nastiness in her stroller, and led her shaking and naked out into the zoo.  At this time Eve realized she was not getting her blue icee and started pitching a fit, despite the fact I repeatedly promised to stop at the first gas station and get one for her.
In our time at the zoo, I'm pretty sure we got more looks than the animals.
Fortunatly Buck and John (after, from what I hear, quite a tiff in the car) quickly made their way to the entrance to pick us up.  Fortunately, also, it was 75 degrees in January and poor Ellie wasn't too terribly cold.  Fortunately, also, she was pretty emptied out and didn't have much more to "spill" in the car.
Needless to say, we had our memorable family day.  But let's be honest...all that being said, if that's the most we have to complain about, we might as well laugh it off (after some fairly severe consequences, of course) and be thankful for all we have.