it was a whopper

Today was non-stop:

4:00 AM - Wake up to take Gabe to the Northwest AR airport for a business trip

7:30 AM - Drive to Tulsa Zoo with Rochelle and Sage (Yay! Lots of fun. See below...)

1:00 PM - Make a quick-as-quick-can-be-with-toddler-who-dislikes-riding-in-the-cart-while-I-lug-carseat-with-sleeping-baby to Whole Foods for some colic relief tablets for aforementioned baby who is finally sleeping after crying through most of the morning.

2:25 PM - Arrive at Tulsa airport to pick up my brother Forest and his buddy Hayden, my mom joins us.

3:00 PM - Eat at Joe's Crab Shack. Yum. Bucket of crab legs. Yum.

5:30 PM - Hit the road, heading back to Arkansas. Before we reach the freeway, Liam has to potty. We stop at a gas station, Liam decides he doesn't need to go after all, but then Forest does. And then they need to get drinks inside. And then it's really time for River to nurse again. And then he has a really messy diaper. And then Liam needs to pee again (another false alarm).

6:05 PM - Leave the gas station.

7:30 PM - Get to the childcare center in Springdale where my mom teaches and also cleans three days a week (I'm going to help her with the cleaning from now on for some extra income). Liam goes to sleep on a cot in one of the classrooms, and Forest and Hayden take turns trying to rock River to sleep and then coming to get me when he won't stop fussing. This happened several times.

9:30 PM - Finish the cleaning, and it is pouring down rain in classic summer-storm fashion. I crawl along the 412 at 45 mph...

10:15 - Finally home. Get the boys into bed. Unload the car. Sit down at the computer with a glass of milk and a couple cookies...

I really need to get to bed soon.

...

Sometimes the crazy stressful days are actually really fun. This was a good one. But I'm also glad all days are not as busy as today. Just call me an introverted homebody.

...

And now for some zoo pictures:

Getting these two to look at the camera simultaneously just wasn't happening. But they really liked the meerkat.

His first carousel ride.

This is the I'm-not-so-sure-about-this-Mama face. But when the ride was over and we got down, he didn't want to leave. I think we'll be trying again next zoo trip.
River's first train ride.
He's been really into blowing spit bubbles lately.

Me and my boys.