Four little ducklings and a dog

Yesterday I decided to go for a walk. I left the house with the 4 kids. Andrea just turned 3 weeks old and I had her in a wrap (wearing her). Samuel was on his bike and Ale on training wheels. Annah was in the stroller. And we were off.

Well, almost. I grabbed the house key and checked it to make sure it worked on the inside garage door. Great. Then I exicted through the garage as the kids waited for me in the driveway. The door closed behind me and I noticed my sister's dog was sitting in the driveway. Since I thought taking the 4 kids would be more than enough I wanted to put the dog back inside the house (I was dog sitting). I use the key and it doesn't work! No way! So I ended up putting the dog in the storage compartment on the stroller.

I noticed as we walked people would stare a bit. Sometime after Ale was born, however, I had learned to semi-ignore people otherwise I don't get things accomplished that I need to because if my attention was distracted one of the kids would need my attention or the baby would need to be nursed or whatever. Anyhow, there seems to be some sort of shift from having 3 children to having the 4th. I sort of feel like the mama duck with her baby ducklings wadling behind her. I also noticed that people watching probably get that same image...oh, look...there is one more! And the dog, of course.

We walked to the office which is just a mile away from the house and AJ was there (so we got the house key). It was a fun adventure on the way. Ale does what Samuel does. Samuel learned to ride his bike earlier this year but we are still working on the rules and crossing streets. Between making sure the dog didn't jump out of the compartment and making sure the kids didn't get too far ahead (it only happened once but thankfully they stopped at the train tracks) or waited before crossing the street, there was plenty of entertainment if anyone was watching. When we got to the office I took Andrea out to nurse her and there must have been a marshmallow from a box of Lucky Charms that one of the kids had eaten near the wrap. I had a rainbow of colors in the middle of my shirt but it came out with a little of water. Oh well, that is life, I guess. There always seems to be more moments after you have just given birth where you are able to live in the moment and see the small details. That is what life is about.

On our way back to the house we stopped at a nearby school that had a playground and the kids had fun even though it was scorching heat outside. We made it back to the house with smiles on faces and to a very cool, air conditioned home. And maybe every Wednesday should be like yesterday without the worries of what needs to be done at home and just enjoying the day with the kids.