branching out from the plan

I'm not sure that this really needs to be stated to the select few of you who decide to twiddle away your time by visiting here, but in case you hadn't heard by now-- I love plans. This is inseparably connected with my love for lists, since a plan really is just a list not necessarily written down. A mental list, if you will. I like going into each weekend with a physical list-- the chores, shopping, and errands that will hopefully get accomplished in those precious 48 hours where I am not fully responsible for the well-being of the wackadoo kids. (Oh to be able to clean my bathrooms without the kids barging in and trying to suck on the toilet bowl cleaner bottle...)

In order to get a good sense of how realistic The List is, I need to know at least a general skeleton of The Plan each weekend. For now at least, all three kids are in swim classes on Saturday mornings, so that is a constant part of The Plan, but the rest is usually up for grabs. When I heard mid-week that it was expected to be absolutely spring-like this weekend, I decided to try to get as much of the regular weekend chores done on Friday, freeing up Saturday to hang out with friends out of doors, and leaving Sunday completely open. Everything actually went according to The Plan, and we splashed away in the pool (back to back parent-and-child classes with Pudge and then Red), had a friend of Red's come over for lunch and the afternoon, met up with a few great pals and our collective slew of kids at a playground after naptime, and kept the shindig going back at our house with friends and burgers from Five Guys. Very nice day indeed.

This morning, the big question hung in the air-- What's the plan for today? It literally hung in the air over our bed as I posed it to lovely hubby a few times as we lazily lay in bed with the children playing all around us until a blissful 8:30 in the am. (Not knocking him or anything, but lovely hubby has not yet converted to a strong belief in The Plan... even after almost 15 years of life with me!) This was followed by a leisurely prepared and eaten breakfast, and then a rousing session of everyone-pile-up-on-Daddy-and-giggle-and-jostle-around-until-someone-returns-his-or-her-breakfast! (Thankfully, it did not come to that end.) Again, I tried pressing The Plan, but again there were no takers on that committee. I jokingly declared that I wanted to see llamas, then I went upstairs to take a shower at a shameful 11:30. While simultaneously rubbing shampoo in my hair and brushing my teeth under the spray of too-hot-just-how-I-like-it water, lovely hubby walked in the bathroom and loudly declared, "We're going to the zoo when you get out. I'm going to make sandwiches now."

And you know what? We did. We got everyone ready; packed pb&j sandwiches, some fruit and a ridiculously large pitcher of iced tea; threw apparently unnecessary light jackets on top of the bags; remembered the camera as we were locking the door; and headed down to DC. I was once again reminded of my gratitude for living so close to our nation's capital, as we have this resource (free, except for the exorbitantly raised parking fees!) just a ways down the road. As it turned out, there were no llamas in The Plan for me today-- in fact, there was absolutely no plan at all. We simply walked around and saw a few animals and exhibits that interested us, but with no rush or list in hand whatsoever. Pudge mooed at some cows (the sound that all farm animals make according to him) and went berserk in the small mammal house at all the tamarins and other monkey-like animals leaping in the trees. (He also has this exclamation that he makes at pretty much any animal-- lemur at the zoo or squirrel on our fence-- that is difficult to transcribe, but sounds much like he's yelling "Ga-Cock!" Which he did over and over and over with such enthusiasm and glee that I had tears in my eyes by the end of the small mammal house!) Red and JAM got to see some real live Naked Mole Rats, and lovely hubby and I enjoyed some time out of the house-- and off of The Plan-- for a day. A different, but quite pleasant, experience for me.

And of course, a trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without pictures... an absolutely beautiful, "Don't I have precious children" one, and one that is reminiscent of many of our family pictures, with Red's stubborn streak shining through.

From my monkeys to yours,