Abma's Farm

I love love love Abma's Chicken Salad.  And I've been craving it like nobody's business this week.  No...I'm not pregnant...just want me some Chicken Salad.  I don't like Chicken Salad.  At all.  Unless it's Abma's! 
But here's the thing.  How does a skittish mother of triplets (plus 2) "run into" a farm store to pick up some chicken salad?  Well...she doesn't!  Especially when there's a petting zoo right there.

Finally, the urge got to be more than I could handle!  So yesterday, I did it.  I bit the bullet and took the triplets to Abma's Farm to get some Chicken Salad and see the animals. 

What was I thinking?  How was I going to keep track of them?  How was I going to keep them from grabbing everything off the shelves in the market?  Was I suffering from temporary insanity?  How was this going to work?

Who cares...I have to start getting out with the gang if I have any hope of not losing my mind!

Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and the kids ran right up to the animals and started yelling out each name...

..."Buuuuh-kneeeee"...

..."Tuuuur-keeeeey"...

...and that's where the fun ended for Eli!  I snapped this picture right before the turkey snapped at him!  There were cries, tears and screams...and not all from Eli!  Nearby moms were horrified.  I was calm...sorta.  I quickly dropped the camera and ran to check Eli over...he was fine...the turkey didn't get him...at all.  When the coast was clear...I laughed.  Only Eli would be so enthusiastic that it would cause a turkey...at a children's petting zoo...to snap at him!

Thankfully, the trauma with the turkey didn't end our trip to Abma's.  Eli forced me to carry him for a whopping 60 seconds, then joined Cole and Ava as they continued around the zoo looking at the sheep,  pigs, ponies, goats, etc.  At the fence for each animal, the kids squatted down and talked to the animal like it was a little baby...

"Hi wittle piggy...hi...hi pig..."

They stared at the baby chicks for QUITE a long time.  I think they were drawn to them since there were so many "babies".  Maybe they didn't feel quite so strange being triplets since the chicks were like thirty-lets.

On the way out of the petting zoo (can I just mention that every time I go to type "zoo", I type "zoe".  I should've thought a little harder before naming her!), the triplets indulged my request to pose in the face holes of animals.  No...I was not successful in getting all three to look at me for a picture.  I wasn't even successful in getting their face in the shot.  They would look out the hole and then look down to see the animal.  I don't think they quite got the concept.  But Cole did get something...his head slightly stuck in the hole.  Oh the joy of having a GSM (Good Size Melon).

After being "good shoppers with hands in their pockets", the triplets were rewarded with home-made donuts!  And Mommy was rewarded with Chicken Salad!

Yes, Mom, I brought wipes AND antibacteria wash to use on their hands before they ate the donuts!

World's Best Waterboys

So technically, they weren't both BOYS and they didn't have WATER, but they were still perfect!

I'm running the NJ Half-Marathon again this year.  Saturday, I was supposed to run 12 miles, according to my training schedule.  Since I haven't done my "long training runs" for the past 2 weekends, thanks to Bethany's Wedding and Easter, I was pretty skeptical that I'd get very far.  Planning for the worst, I decided I'd piece together 2 of my running routes (for a total of 11 miles), bringing me right past our street after 5 miles. 

The first 5 miles felt pretty good.  Even still, I wasn't looking forward to going back out on another "loop".  Until I turned the corner and saw this...

Obviously, I don't run with my camera, this is a re-creation!

You can only imagine how much my spirit was lifted.  I might have even teared up a little!  I stopped for a few seconds, drank some of the Gatorade and headed back out.

I only wish the kids had found a way to wait for me at mile 8.5.  Right after the pretty substantial hill I had completely forgotten about.

Easter Recap

Happy Easter (a week late)!

I'm not really sure how Easter showed up so fast.  Actually...I do know...Spring Break...Wedding...Easter.  BOOM!  It's crazy, really.  I keep thinking that life will slow down, but it's not.  It will though, right?

So anyway...Easter...it was great!  We went up to CT to be with my parents.  Left on Saturday evening and came home Sunday night.  Whirl-wind trip.  But so worth it.

Before we left, I let the kids dye eggs: My least favorite tradition of the holiday.  Know what makes coloring eggs much less stressful?  Let them color the eggs OUTSIDE!  The weather was great, so I had them bring the stuff out to the driveway.  I gave them each 1/2 the eggs.  Then I went inside.  Ta Dah!  I couldn't care less about the eggs...or the mess!

Sunday morning we all headed to church in our "Easter Finest".  Cole and Eli even wore the Tuxes from Lindsay's wedding.  Hey, if a 2 1/2 year old can't wear a tux on Easter Sunday, when CAN he wear it?

Cole was NOT cooperative!  He had NO intention of letting me take a picture of him.  Grammy tried.  STILL not successful.

After church, a great lunch (thanks Mom!), and a nap for the triplets, we ventured back outside for a good old-fashioned egg hunt!  The triplet's first.  Oh boy.  Eli wasn't thrilled with the idea.  Two words: Melt Down.  Look at my attempt at a "Pre-Hunt Picture"...could Eli look any less excited?  Not to worry, he quickly caught on to the fun to be had by hunting for "More egg!"

After the hunt was over, the consuming began.  There were multiple times that my parents asked when we were going to cut them off.  Ummmm...well...I hadn't actually planned on cutting them off...

My favorite moment...Eli convincing Ava to share her jelly beans...(sorry about all the shadows, I'm still "perfecting" my SLR camera skills)

Lessons learned:

1. Don't expect a Family Easter Picture for at least another 3 years.
2. Less candy in each egg.
3. Set the candy-eating expectations BEFORE the hunt begins.
4. Oh...and count the eggs BEFORE you start hiding them.
5. Always pack tar and home-improvement clothes...you never know when your husband will be fixing a leak on the roof of your parents' home.

Not My Calling!

I've known for a VERY long time that my calling is NOT to be a teacher.  Even though I was one of those girls who "played school" growing up, I knew I could never be a real teacher.  After a few years as a Mom, I know Im not called to home-school, either.  Don't worry, I'm not going to bad-mouth home-schooling.  I just know that there's NO WAY I could be Zoe's teacher.  I can barely be her homework monitor.

So here's verification #542 that I'll never be a teacher: The American Museum of Natural History

I experienced temporary insanity when I volunteered to chaperone Zoe's Second Grade class trip.  Not only was I slightly bus-sick by the time we got back to school, I was flat out exhausted AND I had a headache (possibly because I didn't get my full dose of morning coffee, but let's just blame the crazy kids, okay!?!?!) 

Here are all the kids that I was put in charge of...

Seriously!?!?!  You want me to control ALL these kids?

(Zoe and her buddy Kaylyn)

I mean, there's so many of them!

Thankfully, I teamed up with other crazy volunteers Moms and we found strength in numbers.

(Krystyn and Sue)

The girls had a one-track-mind...

...they wanted Dum Dum!

(Kaylyn, Zoe, Molly, and Maeve)

And by the end of the day, they were pretty sick of my pictures.  So they started posing pretty creatively.

These ladies need medals.

(Kaylyn, Miss Hulsebos, Zoe, and Mrs. Baitzel)

They do this everyday...JOYFULLY!  There isn't enough money in the world for me to volunteer for this gig!  Thank you for teaching our kids.  Thank you for loving MY kid.  You make school so much fun for Zoe.  She loves learning...thanks to you.  And I love that she's out of the house all day learning!