TGIF

I must have a short in my brain somewhere.  I don't know what possessed me to agree to haul 4 children, all by myself, to the Houston Zoo for the morning, then take them to the airport to pick up a very much missed Auntie, then drive to Sugarland, then drive to San Antonio, then go to Six Flags.  Oh, wait, confusing modifier there, I only did the Houston Zoo/Airport Pick Up by myself.  But still...did my parents forget to teach me some basic math principles?

I have to admit that it was fun, and it did prove that I am capable of corralling and nurturing 4 warm bodies.  We saw lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! and quite a few other animals before visiting the splash park at the zoo where the kids got dripping wet.  Did I bring towels?  No, but I wasn't worried, and I'm glad that I didn't.  It took about 15 minutes for their clothing to dry.  Now, that is hot weather!

It was great to watch Kate walk a little a head of the group with her friend.  So many happy memories of being on outings with friends...I was happy to be making some of those same memories for Kate.  We munched on Dippin Dots, went through an entire box of CapriSuns, 6 bottles of water and 4 glasses of lemonade before we had to pick up Emily.

I will not bore you with the details of airport traffic.  Suffice it to say, it was a beast.  Luckily, the much missed Auntie was still standing in the pick up area when we arrived.  Everyone was grateful that she hadn't decided to catch the next flight home!  We drove through Houston to Sugarland and spent the evening playing in the pool, eating dinner and finally crashing for the night with the expectation of an early Saturday morning.

Six Flags!  That was what every single one of the kid kept asking for all the next morning as we drove and drove and drove.  Of course, you must also insert pit stop, pit stop, pit stop because two cars filled with girls will not make it more than an hour on the road before someone has use the restroom!  Luckily, we knew where the best places were, and it was only the very last time that things got a little desperate, but we made it to Six Flags in time to wait in a very long line for parking.

We managed to find parking spaces, tickets, sunscreen and all those wonderful things.  We decided to split up for the day, so Tanner grabbed the three oldest girls an took them on the "car" ride.  I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit since they had all been anxious to get OUT of the car just a few minutes before.  Emily and I took Georgianna and went on the log ride, the baby car ride, and a couple of other kiddie rides.  I finally convinced Emily to go on at least one daredevil ride which didn't seem to have any line, so she did while Georgianna and I waited in the shade.  Afterward, Emily said that I could go, too.

I smiled and shook my head.  "I come to Six Flags for two reasons," I explained, "the first one is Kate.  The second one is Tanner."  Yup, that's the truth.  My job at Six Flags is Georgianna entertainer and bag watcher.  I just don't do rides.  Well, I did go on the Ferris Wheel (which Emily can attest that I had a white knuckle grip on the metal caging the whole time) and the Log Ride, but I think other than kidde rides that was it.

I enjoyed the next day much more.  We all hung out together and the kids did the teacups, swings, haunted house and rides like that until we got too hot and then we headed to the water park where we floated on the lazy river and played in the wave pool until we discovered Kiddie Water Land, and then I grabbed a lawn chair, put it in the shade and took a nap!

Anyway, I'm super happy to have Emily with us.  She keeps reminding me to chill, breathe and enjoy.  I hope I can remember to do more of that.