Out of the past twelve hours, I've only spent two of those at home. Almost all of our time was spent outside.
After dropping Jackson off at preschool, the trio and I headed to church for a 9:30 appointment with the pastor. The youth group is participating in the 30 Hour Famine this weekend, and I wanted to be able to show a movie with the large screen projector. It took over an hour for the pastor to go through all the steps required to work the soundboard, lights, projector, switch monitors, connect various cables, etc. As I took notes during the tutorial, the trio wreaked havoc up and down every pew.
Maddie hoarded pencils. James pulled all the hymnals. Amelia gathered the visitor cards and prayer request slips. Once I felt semi-confident in working the projector and sound system, the pastor and I helped the trio clean up.
Our next stop was a park, where I had made plans to meet a friend and walk a few miles around the track. I pushed James and Amelia in the double stroller while she pushed Maddie in the single. I enjoyed the company and the exercise.
I didn't leave the park until 12. Rather than drive home, get the trio out for 10 minutes, then load them back in to pick up Jackson, I drove around for 45 minutes while they napped in the van. I had library books to return and the last of a Starbucks gift card to use. I was the second person to pull into the pickup line for preschool.
I asked Jackson what he wanted to do this afternoon. He said "playground". The weather was too nice not to spend the afternoon outside. The toddlers were still napping so we made a quick pit stop at our house to fill multiple water bottles, grab a makeshift lunch, and get lettuce for the ducks. I did a round of diaper changes in the van once we arrived at the park.
While eating lunch on these shaded steps, a young woman was very friendly and admired the triplets. She asked if she could take a picture. I told her that was fine. Afterwards, she began enticing the kids with ice cream, dangling spoonfuls of her own ice cream in front of them. Just when I think I've seen it all, someone surprises me with their lack of boundaries.
We began walking around the lake immediately after the ice cream invitation. I've been trying to get the trio to take turns walking while holding onto the stroller. Amelia is the only one who consistently holds on while I push.
After feeding the ducks and walking around the lake, we played on the playground. Jackson was a rockstar big brother, helping his siblings go down the big tunnel slide. I expected the kids' energy levels to decline, but everyone was happy and playful the entire time.
It was nearly four before we returned home. Jesse had to work the concessions at a baseball game today, which made for a very long day. We discussed meeting him at school to watch the end of the game. I had just enough time to start laundry, fix and serve dinner, and do a final round of diaper changes. Then we loaded up and headed to the baseball field.
There was traffic and all four kids fell asleep on the drive. By the time we finally walked down to the field, there was only one inning left! Oh well, at least we tried. Perhaps it was even better that we were so late because the kids were allowed to briefly walk out on the field. Amelia was the most excited and kept jumping off the bases.
The trio followed each other up and down the bleachers.
Jackson was over it. He had very little downtime today and it showed. He wasn't cranky, just tired.
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