Mother's Day!

This year Mother's Day fell on the same weekend as Boar's Hunt (or should I say Boar's Hunt fell on Mother's Day...) and Walter had commited himself to helping at Boar's Hunt this year about 6 months in advance. An amazing opportunity to use his training in CERT and Search and Rescue Walter was excited to go and I was excited for him.

My dream of having a do-nothing-but-sleep Mother's Day weekend (which had gotten me through many a long night with Sophia) was out the window now that I was on my own with Sophia and Padon but I still really looked forward to having a special weekend with them, relishing in the fact that I was a Mother to a couple really great kids.

Mother's Day is celebrated at the Woodland Park Zoo with a Mom and Me Day at the Zoo extravaganza and not only were there to be lots of things to do but the new Meerkat exhibit was opening up! So on Saturday I packed us a lunch, grabbed the double stroller and packed us all in the car, Padon very excited to be going to the zoo.

We got to the zoo in perfect timing for lunch and plunked ourselves down in front of a steel drum band playing great music. It was fun to look at all the families and kids running around, dancing, and enjoying themselves and I wished that Walter could have joined us too.

The weather was awesomly sunny too, warm, and gave me the perfect opportunity to put Sophia in a sun hat that my Grandmother had made for me. I totally had to take a picture to remember the moment and to have it to send it to my Grandmother so she could share in what felt to me to be a special moment.

After having lunch we started making our way around the zoo and saw what felt like just about every animal. We started with the Penguins where there is a large boat that the kids can play in and around. While there Padon sat himself down next to this little girl and totally siddled up next to her like, hey baby. It was super cute!

Through the crazy crowds we made out way over to the Meerkat exhibit where they had a faux meerkat den that Padon enjoyed playing in. But inside the building where the Meerkats were really located the crowd was immense and largely adults so there was no possible way a toddler could see hid nor hair of a Meerkat. So with Padon on my shoulders I wiggled the double stroller (with Sophia asleep in the infant car seat) through the back side of the crowd following behind an older couple with a walker. A we made our way past the window I asked Padon if he could see the Meerkats, partially standing on my tip toes to give him an even better advantage. He was now a good head to two heads taller then everyone else and he could see them (I was proudly thinking to myself how glad I was that Padon had a tall Mom). Anticlimatic they were really small, cat looking animals, huddled together in a Meerkat ball asleep. Much to my Mommy proudness, I totally got a "kudos" look from a Dad though as I walked by with my long stroller, infant car seat, full back pack, and 30lb toddler on my shoulders.
We stopped by the elephants and a great photo op seemed to present itself but as soon as Padon realized that the couple I had passed my camera off to were going to take our picture he slid off the bronze baby elephant head saying "No, no, no..." as he does when you try to get a picture of him now. I fully realize this is a phase that will pass and still enjoyed the picture and was glad to have it to help memoralize the day.
After running around what pretty much was the whole zoo, per what is circled on the map in the picture at the top of this post, we stopped at the play ground and topped off the day as a great one.

I almost got another awesome picture but lost my opportunity as I didn't grab my camera with Sophia and had to go back for in it in a second trip to the stroller which gave Padon enough time to realize what my goal was, start saying No, and threaten to cry if I didn't let him go. So imagine instead, Padon sitting in the seat of the Motorcycle, so cute because Sophia is in the side car. Aaaahhhhhhhh..... We left the zoo buying a plastic Meerkat to remember the day and I went home totally satisfied and feeling like this had been one of the best Mother's Days yet!
On Sunday, and the true Mother's Day, we got up and I declared that we needed to go get fresh donuts! With Padon and Sophia packed in the car we drove down into Marysville to Henry's Donuts, declared one of the best donut places in Marysville by Google.com. It was great because it had been a really long time since I had gone to a donut shop with the intention of picking out a fresh donut and getting some hot coffee to savor it with. I thought Padon might be excited by the large glass case of donuts but he was more taken by the store's play area. So happily he played while I snuggled with Sophia, ate my french cruller and old fashioned donut, sipped my coffee, and enjoyed the two "Happy Mother's Day!'s" I received from two strangers as they came in to get donuts.

After breakfast we went home where I packed us up for a day at the Lake House. Something that both Padon and I were very excited for. Padon was super excited to give Greg his birthday present- a blue ball that Padon picked out all by himself, and to sing him Happy Birthday, and I was super excited to finally have the chance to give my Mom her birthday present - a pair of black mittens she had asked me to knit for her, and to give Sarah her birthday present - a lovely cocktail ring, and finally her Christmas present - a pin-up boy patterned cooking apron.

Still struggling with lactose intolerance I tried to get some delicious, yet cows milk free, icecream on the way down, thinking I had factored in enough time, and after having to make two unexpected stops to get the good stuff, and now grumpy that we were an hour late and unable to pass on the word because my cell battery was dead, we arrived at my parents.
Padon and Greg were so excited to see each other, Greg really liked the ball, Sarah loved the Apron and ring, I was able to find out from my Mom which of the two mittens was the proper size to correct the pattern, and Jane and my Aunt Mildred got some really great pictures of Greg and Padon together.

A not altogether relaxing Mother's Day due to the hard play between Padon and Greg, some freyed nerves, and grumpy moods, the icecream was still delicious and Padon now checks himself everytime we go out to be with other people saying "No hitting, no kicking, no hitting in the face."

I look back on this Mother's Day weekend and think of the wonderful day at the zoo, the delicious donuts, and how good it felt to give gifts that were really wanted and think, man that was a really great Mother's Day!