Moving Forward

Late Starts

"Shit!" I look at the time jumping out of bed.  I slept in an extra 30 minutes and we're all going to be late.

"Brad!" I yell, scaring him "We overslept. It's after 8."

"What?" He looks at me groggily until I show him the time.  He quickly jumps out of bed as well, running out to wake the girls who have surprisingly slept in with us.

"Here, brush your teeth." I hear Brad tell Ava as he brings her in the bathroom while I shower.  He opens the shower door seconds later, handing me Kassie and telling me she needs a bath.  I quickly throw some soap all over her and hold her under the water until it all runs off.  She laughs as the water touches her, loving it.

"Why are we quick?" Ava asks, completely unaware of the fact that for the first time in her life she slept in "I don't like this."

"We forgot to set an alarm, that's all." Brad says, dressing her.  He takes her downstairs to eat quickly while I dry off and get Kassie dressed.  Once she's dressed, I hand her some toys to play with while I quickly get myself dressed and ready.

"Let's go." I tell her as she walks next to me.  She walks all the way to the steps where I pick her up and carry her down. 

"You have everything?" I ask Ava as we walk out the door "We don't have time to come back."

"Yeah!" She replied excitedly, jumping in her seat, ready for her field trip today.

I drive to her school, just barely making it in time.  We jump out of the car and run into her classroom where everyone else is.

"I'm so sorry we're late." I walk up to her teacher, getting the list of kids in my group "We never set an alarm and her and Kassie actually slept in."

"It happens." She replies, relating to the situation "I was almost late too.  No worries."

I walk over to Ava with the list so that she can help me find out who is in my group.  She runs up to the kids, pulling them over to me so that I can see them.

"She's so cute." One of the other mom's walks over to me "I'm Abby, Hannah's mom.  I met your husband before, but I don't think I've met you yet."

"I don't think so, but I've heard so much about Hannah.  Ava loves her."

We get on the bus that takes us to the barn, listening to a bunch of 5 year olds yell and laugh the whole hour drive there. 

"Mommy can we pet the animals?" Ava pulls me towards the cats "They're cute!!"

"Hold on, honey.  We don't know if they're sick and could hurt you." I hold her closer to me, knowing she isn't going to listen since she's so excited to see them.

The owners of the barn come out to talk to all of us.  They let the kids feed some of the animals as we walk around to see everything that they have.

"There's a goat!" One kid in my group gets excited, walking as close as he can to it "I want a goat at my house.  They're so cool!"

The other kids run up behind him, all wanting to bother the poor animal.  I stand in the back, taking pictures of them.

"Mommy, I think me and Kassie need a goat.  Or a cow." Ava looks up at me, smiling and fluttering her eyes "And some bunnies."

"Ava we live in a house, not a zoo.  We don't need anymore animals than the 2 dogs we have." I take some pictures of her with the animals to show Brad "Maybe you can ask daddy about a bunny, but that's it."

We move on through the farm to a bunch of picnic tables where we're supposed to eat lunch.  The kids are all told they can play on the playground equipment while the owners make everyone milkshakes.

"They're such leaders." I tell Abby and we watch the girls lead everyone else in a game of tag "I hope they aren't too mean."

"Me too.  Everyone else listened to them really quickly.  I'm not sure if that's good or not." She laughs "It's so weird seeing her like this because she's so quiet at home."

"Oh, well Ava isn't.  She tries her best to be involved in everything she can be." I watch as an argument breaks out over a few of the kids "She's always trying to take charge of her and Kassie.  It's not nearly as cute as it used to be."

Eventually more of the kids get mad and argue with each other over typical 5 year old things, letting us know it's time for them to have lunch.  I have everyone in my group sit at one table so I don't lose them, and of course my kid decides to be the most annoying of them all.

"If you do not eat this you aren't getting a milk shake." I finally tell her, handing her the sandwich and crackers she told me she wanted 5 times last night "You aren't getting a reward if you don't eat."

"But mommmmmy," she pushes it back towards me "I'm not hungry.  Im thirsty so I NEED the milkshake!"

"No, if you're thirsty you need water, not a milkshake."

"Fine." She sighs, giving in and reaching for the food.  She tries her best to only eat half of it, but I refuse to give in.

"Are you guys having fun so far?" I ask the kids "Did you like all the animals you got to see?"

"Yeah!" They all say in agreement as they drink their milkshakes.

We pack up to leave shortly after, quickly stopping at the animals again to say bye.

"Can we come back?" Ava asks as we get back on the bus "But with daddy and Kassie?"

"Yeah, honey.  We'll come back."