Is it really worth it?

When Ailey was a baby I know that I got out of the house a little less often than before she was born, but compared to these days we were regular ol' explorers. I could take her anywhere ... I just had to be willing to spend the hour before preparing for it.

A lot of our outings were spent with my friend Jen and her son Parker, who is 4 days younger than Ailey. Parker was her first child also, so I'm sure first-time-Mommy stuff was partly why we would spend the morning of our outing calling back and forth with "Well, now Ailey is hungry so it will be another hour before I can leave" and "Parker just fell asleep so I want to wait until he wakes up to head out" and so on and so on ... and so on. I think we found that 2:00 in the afternoon was the perfect time to head out for a get-together - a walk, a visit to the park, a trip to the mall, lunch out. Now I think back longingly to how easy it was to get out and live life with just one baby sharing the experience.

Ailey, Marin, Silje and I don't get out as much these days. Even a short stroller walk around the neighborhood doesn't always go well. It's a lot of work to do all the feeding, diapering, consoling, and reining in of Ailey to enjoy the actual purpose of the outing. It would be very easy to stay home all the time. I know there are people who do it - it's just too hard to think about going out when it's so much easier to stay home.

But when opportunity knocks - an invitation for a play date, a sunny day and request to go to the park, my mom being here at the right time for the Farmer's Market on a Wednesday - I usually don't dare ignore it. Getting out and living life is what makes life worth living, right?

We had a couple of outings this week. The first was to the Farmer's Market. Ailey and I made the Farmer's Market a regular outing last summer. It was a great place to go when she was in her cast for those 6 weeks. I could carry her in the Hip Hammock, we would find some good produce to buy and get some kettle corn to enjoy while we walked around oldtown Mukilteo. (In fact, it was on one of these outings that my pickiest eater accidently popped some corn into her own mouth instead of mine and decided she liked it. I had to feed myself after that!) With three kids, however, I have to pack in the stroller and either we lay down a blanket behind one of the vendors or I push the stroller someplace where we can watch the ferry. Andy, Jen with her kids, or my mom have gone with us this summer. This past week it was my mom, and most of the outing was fine, except when we found out there was no kettle corn and had to divert an Ailey breakdown. We got some blueberries instead (Ailey actually licked one before deciding she didn't like it) and went to watch the ferry. The babies did fine until we got back to the car and I needed to help Ailey use the potty. Marin is usually fine with anyone watching her, but as soon as Silje found out I was otherwise occupied she had a bit of a meltdown. If either Andy or I can see one coming we can usually calm her pretty quickly, but if she's allowed to really rev up it takes a while. This time she revved up. It was a little while before she calmed enough to change her poopy diaper and settle her back into her car seat. That outing actually could be deemed successful, but after pottying Ailey, Silje's melt-down, changing diapers while bending over the back of the van, and getting everyone back in the car and the stroller packed up, I was royally exausted when we finally got home. Luckily my mom had brought dinner, so after helping me put the kids to bed she fed us four adults. My dad and Andy had been working on the fence and were tired themselves.

Our other outing of the week was Saturday night - dinner at Parker's house (Jen, Tony and little brother Levi were there too!). It's been hot here this week and yesterday was the warmest, so going for dinner and beers on their deck sounded wonderful. Both Andy and I would be there to take care of babies and Ailey could play with Parker. ... I think it's Mother Nature's way of keeping us going in life to give us selective memories. In this case, she let us believe that a sunny evening on a friend's deck with dogs and beer would be a peaceful and relaxing thing. She forgot to include 5 kids in that reverie, however. On this particular night it was two of our kids who created the chaos. Ailey didn't want to eat dinner ... or listen to her dad when he told her not to do something. And Silje, no doubt tired because it was bedtime, had a complete melt-down when Tony picked her up. This time, though, it took a good half hour or so - me only half way through my dinner - to calm her and get her to sleep a little. I know that of the four adults there, at least three of us scarfed our dinners, and I'm pretty sure I left some of my yummy drink sitting somewhere.

These are normal outings for us, and I'm sure for most families with three young kids. It's exausting when we finally get home, get the kids to bed and have a chance to wonder if this outing was really worth it. Except for a stroller walk I attempted a couple weeks ago, I think I always answer that with a yes. Staying home doesn't guarantee a no-meltdown day or evening anyway. And our little ones have to learn flexibility sometime. Besides, Mother Nature will make sure that we remember only the good parts of most outings, and it's these changes from the daily routine that help create memories in the first place.

As for remembering the routine stuff of life, that's what a camera is for! We took plenty of pictures this week. Both babies started sitting up completely unassisted this week. We spent quite a bit of time in the backyard, in the pool and under the tent. Andy worked on the fence - he's almost done building it, next comes staining.

Enjoy the show.

Marin is still toothless ... and cute.

Ailey was very kind to pile all the toys close enough so Marin could play with them!

For a few days Marin sat and Silje laid down to play....

Now they sit side by side to play.

Papa holding his girls

Silje and Marin

Silje

The babies under the tent in the backyard.

Marin

I saw this from the kitchen window, so it's taken through the screen. Ailey is writing in her notebook.

Marin wearing Ailey's hat

Andy's fence. The top part on this section isn't quite finished - the left side will have two more vertical pieces to match the right. Pretty nice custom made fence!

Ailey

Oh, and I ended up doing 15 loads of laundry this week, a 7 day period. Only one load (bed sheets) was something I don't do every week. I'm definitely not going to continue counting loads of laundry!