{morning at the zoo}

It was a beautiful summer morning in St. Louis today, so we headed out bright and early to the zoo. We were among the first visitors there and felt like we had much of the place to ourselves for a while- my favorite way to visit the zoo!

It was a great morning and I am so glad we went. Sometimes when Ben has a stretch of time away like this week, we tend to stick closer to home for some reason.  I think I make a long mental list of everything that needs to be done to get four kids out the door and then dread how hard it can be to keep track of four kids all by myself in a public place...... and then just kind of give up and decide it would be much easier to stay at home.

Sometimes, though, I get brave and give it a shot. Usually it ends up going pretty well and I wonder why I made it seem like a big deal, like yesterday afternoon.  Yesterday the kids were having fun together in the playroom, but it was just so nice outside that it seemed a shame not to get out and enjoy the weather. Once Katie woke up from her nap, we headed to our favorite park to play. That went so well that we decided it would be fun to go out for cheeseburgers and headed to Steak and Shake. That went so well that I decided we could handle a stop at Target for a few groceries. Target was going so well that we made it a longer trip and had fun picking out new school backpacks and browsing the toy aisles. We came home and they had a popsicle picnic on the dining room floor while I read the next two chapters of our current family read aloud. Everyone showered and bathed, put on pajamas, and went to their beds for sleep. It couldn't have gone any smoother, really, even if there had been two parents in the house. (Not patting myself on the back, just feeling super thankful. It could have-  and has-  gone in completely the opposite direction.)

Many of these zoo pictures were taken by Gracie. It's nice to have another photography nut in the family. She was such a help to me today in general that I commented to her as we were leaving that it was almost like having another adult with me. She instinctively knows how to help with her younger siblings, whether it be silently pulling Drew onto her lap during the animal show when she noticed he couldn't see or turning to me at the busy playground area and saying, "I'll keep Katie with me if you need to keep track of Drew." She floors me sometimes with her maturity and thoughtfulness.

(Related side note- while at a neighbor's house to play the other day, I met another mom (a good friend of our neighbor) and her son who were also over to have ice cream and play. After watching all of the kids playing together for about fifteen minutes, the mom turned to me and said, "Whenever your daughter is old enough to babysit, I call dibs. She is a natural!" Pretty cool that even someone just meeting her can see what a great kid she is. )

After our morning out, it is going to be a (hopefully) nice and quiet rest of the day. Katie is napping, Gracie is baking some brownies for everyone, and the boys are busy with Imaginext in the playroom. They don't know it yet, but there is a Movie Night and sleepover on the couch in their future.

Summer break doesn't really have to end in a couple of weeks, does it? I will so miss weeks like this and feel sad already thinking about the end of so much good time together once school starts.