The Last Hurrah

So, just in case you missed the news, I'm having a baby this week.  Like all things that involve waiting a long time (like more than a month) for, it's incredibly shocking to actually have the long-awaited event arrive.  I still can't quite believe that in less than a week the baby that's been keeping me company for nine months will be in a separate location.  I feel that I should be pregnant in perpetuity.  

But I won't, and in a few days the logistics of taking our circus out in public will get incredibly complicated (again).  So when I brought up the idea of taking the children to the zoo this Saturday and Brandon made a face and talked about having to haul four children through the inevitable crowds that throng the zoo on a beautiful spring Saturday, I pointed out that in less than a week we would have five children to haul through those crowds.  

So for our last Saturday of four-childness (very strange to think that from here into eternity we will have more than four children) we took everyone to the National Zoo.

Did you know that although the zoo is free, parking is twenty-two dollars?  But before you think that is crazy, did you know that taking all of our children on public transportation would involve at least thirty minutes of walking, forty-five minutes of metro riding, and still cost more than parking?  Yep, there's just no way to do anything on the cheap (or on the easy for that matter) with four kids.

But, when you're in DC, how can you not go to the zoo?  After all, it's the zoo.

When Brandon and I were planning out logistics (I had a hair cut that afternoon), I assured him that we would be done in time for my appointment  - children never last more than two hours at anything and it doesn't matter if the zoo has flying unicorns with gold-glitter manes and silver hooves, it's no exception to the rule.  And almost exactly two hours after we arrived, the requests to go home started.  Did I ever tell you that I'm good?  No?  Well, I'm good. 

I remember sitting next on this exact same lawn with a bunch of youth from my ward (temple trip) when I was fourteen.  And then I realized that was eighteen years ago.  Very strange.

So just in case you noticed, there aren't any pictures of animals.  Sorry.  That's what National Geographic photographers are for, right?

As I was walking around enjoying the perfect spring sunshine (and listening to other people's infants fussing because they were hungry or up past nap time), I felt somewhat like a condemned prisoner enjoying their last meal.  Thankfully, it's not a life sentence, having a newborn, and in a year or so I'll be able to galavant about again.  But for now, our Saturdays will be a little less exciting.  

Hooray for the zoo!