- Grant's Farm: Round 2 -

There was not one baaaaa-d thing about our day out at Grant's Farm! Cheers to summer adventures...here we GOAT again!

 

It had been about 6.5 years since our last visit to Grant's Farm [you know, the one where Harper ingested goat food pellets and also chugged milk from the goat milk bottles...........and lived to tell the story].  The kids were pros with feeding and brushing the goats this time around!

The highlight of the day [for the big girls] was a ride on the camel! Leave it to Grandma to buy them all the "extras" that Mom always tries to pass off with, "Not today, maybe next time...!" ;) :)

Stay cool, Grant's Farm! We'll be baaaaa-ck some day! 

 

- City Mueseum -

It's spring break, y'all! ...And the perfect time to cash in our Christmas gift from Uncle Blake: a trip to the City Museum!

I was so excited about this day trip, especially since Brian took PTO so we could make it a family adventure and do something fun all together while the kids were off school for a full week; but OH MY GOODNESS, [and] thank goodness he planned to come along, because I NEVER would've survived that museum zoo by myself with the three kids!  As Harper and Scarlett immediately darted off into a tunnel inside the mouth of a great white whale in the entrance while I was still trying to get the stroller parked and Juliette's wrist band adhered, I pretty quickly realized that the day would be a 1 adult:Harper/Scarlett and 1 adult:Juliette type of day.  Brian followed the big girls around [for what felt like hours] while Juliette and I found a little fun of our own...

 

...and pretty soon, the older sisters surfaced...

...but not for long before they were off to another area of wire contraptions and slides.  Aside from just the VERY LARGE CROWD inside, I wondered a few times if God was giving me a glimpse of hell: nasty, muggy air which boasted a mild-to-strong scent of B.O. every now and then, very dark lighting, endless caves and caverns and tunnels that led to unknown areas........... Surely at least 3 kids permanently disappeared in this place each day?!  While I was quietly considering all the ways one of our children would surely die, Harper and Scarlett were absolutely LOVING it all.  Harper even sweet talked her dad into taking her up up up and UP ten flights of stairs to scoot down the 10-story slide [which I am now currently on hold to make Brian a follow-up chiropractor appointment for]! :O

Hours later, I finally conned everyone onto the same story and roped us in together for a snack and a sit-down to watch a trapeze artist who escaped the circus. Harper loved the show and is now asking for a yard of stretchy fabric and a hula hoop to be hung from our basement ceiling so she can learn how to do circus acts and other forms of aerial gymnastics..................................

Around 1:30pm, a v. v. overtired and v. v. fussy Juliette finallyyyy fell asleep in her stroller, and Brian offered to push her around for a bit while I took the big girls off for more exploring.  Phew!  A break from a fussy toddler and a chance to explore the chaos with the big girls; I'll take it!   

 

But then!  3.6 minutes into our cavern spelunking adventure, Harper was officially LOST...! Scarlett and I spent the next 13.6+ minutes frantically searching and yelling her name approx. every 10 seconds into the dark abyss.  I didn't have cell reception in this particular dungeon-like portion of the museum but later retrieved 5 missed phone calls from cell phones of various museum employees who were helping Harper try to find us.  ...It's truly a miracle that she types in my cell phone number every week to complete her check-in at gymnastics, otherwise I'm not sure she would've known my number! :/ About the time she was at the front desk scared out of her mind that she'd never see us again since her dumb mom wasn't answering any phone calls, another woman reported to the front desk that there was "a woman/mom yelling, 'HARPERRRRR?' over and over and over very loudly in the cave area," and that prompted an employee to quickly bring Harper down there where we were anxiously searching.

REUNITED.

Zomg.

[With all the weirdos lurking around the world these days,] I literally thought for a few minutes we might never see our girl again!  ...And I'm totally giving a little extra empathy to Mama Mary during my reciting of the joyful mysteries of the rosary these days when I meditate on the pure JOY they must've felt when they found Jesus in the temple after three days of searching.  Three days!!! I could barely contain myself for 15 minutes hahhhhh.

The long story short is, upon being reunited with Harper, I immediately threw in the towel and handed the "explorer hat" back over to the fun parent who, without question, quickly began exploring with the kids again.  As I sat on the top deck outside by a sleeping Juliette and watched the more adventurous 60% of the family climbing on these wire tunnels and ladders about 578' above the ground, I pondered several important things like:
a) do we think engineers inspect this place every so often to make sure the attractions are safe?, and
b) what time does this place close for the day...hopefully soon?, and
c) how can I get my hands on a triple dose of Xanax for the next time we find ourselves brave enough to visit this very curious place?.............

About the time I was finished racking my brain with all these things, I saw two police officers escorting a purple tie-dye shirted City Museum employee out in handcuffs, and that was the final straw. Time to go!!!

I am happy to report that all 5 of us made it back to the van unscathed [albeit v. v. hot and hungry], and 4/5 of the family reported it as the best day ever!

Until next time, City Muesum......... *pops a Cayman Jack*