Our last weekend before the start of the new school
year. Cue all the tears.
Last week was crazy.
I can’t remember anything prior to Wednesday so I’ll just start
there. My company has been partnering
with a charter school in Chicago for quite some time. We do lots of volunteer work there, donate
school supplies, mentor, adopt families during the holidays, and more. I love the work that we do and the experience
is always rewarding. When the
opportunity came to prep the school for the upcoming school year, I initially
declined because I’ve been so busy and had a different volunteer meeting
planned for that evening, but I changed my mind last minute and went to
Chicago. I spent about 3 hours painting
the office area and then headed back to work.
I had a great time and I’m really glad I went. I just accepted a volunteer position as
Executive Board Secretary at S’s preschool and also had my first Board meeting
that night. By 9:45pm, the meeting had
already been going for 4 hours and I was completely exhausted. The discussion was really interesting, but I
knew I had to be up at 5:30am the next day so I headed home though the meeting
hadn’t quite wrapped up. Not sure what I
got myself into and I’m hopeful that upcoming meetings won’t last as long. Yikes.
Thursday, I was just so darn tired. My office had their annual summer gathering
and while the food and company were great, I just wanted a nap. Our CEO announced that in honor of the
company’s 10 year anniversary, he was giving everyone the day off on
Friday. Wait. WHAT?!?!
I was so excited for a surprise free day and after such a busy week, the
timing was perfect.
Friday was perfect.
There was initially a chance of rain in the forecast for much of the
day, but when we woke up, the chance of rain had diminished. We had a very slow morning and finally
decided we’d head to the Milwaukee Zoo.
The boys had never been to this particular zoo and A and I haven’t
visited in several years. We eventually
headed out of the house and when we arrived at the zoo, it was sprinkling
rain. We decided we’d look for a lunch
spot and then head into the zoo. Oddly
enough, we couldn’t find any family restaurants near the zoo. Our options seemed limited to fast food or
taverns. Not what I had in mind. We eventually decided to try out a little
Italian restaurant. As soon as we opened
the door, there was a sign indicating gentleman were not allowed to wear tank
tops. I’m not sure if it was meant to be
cute, but of course W was wearing a tank top and I was in ripped jeans. I was about to turn around, but A suggested
we give it a try. If they didn’t want to
seat us, their loss. We were seated, but
the restaurant was clearly not meant for children. No kids menus, no lids on cups, I was so
nervous about making a scene. BUT. The food was great, the boys were perfect,
and we all really enjoyed lunch. An
elderly man even stopped at our table to compliment the boys’ behavior. So halleluiah for no spilled drinks, no
meltdowns, and no puke. #winning #thistime.
The zoo was awesome.
I had forgotten how great the Milwaukee Zoo was and we all had so much
fun. There was some festival going on
with food trucks and live music so we enjoyed treats: shaved Hawaiian ice and
popcorn for me, chips and lemonade for the boys. There were lots of animals to see and after
about 3 hours, we decided to head out.
 |
| W's stank eye... hahaha |
Saturday, we ran errands.
W suggested a trip to Dairy Queen.
Neither of my boys eat ice cream.
WHAT WHAT?!? But W had had some
type of popsicle (Starkiss) at summer camp and liked it. I’ll never turn down an opportunity for ice
cream so we stopped after grocery shopping.
We took a family walk and spent the rest of the day cleaning and
playing.
Sunday, our usual church and Starbucks. We played dominoes and bingo and had a
relatively low key day, which was the perfect ending to summer vacation.
I remember that I declared last summer my favorite summer
ever. Now, that almost feels like it was
an invitation for disappointment and sorrow in the year to come. Like I was destined for struggle. This summer was the worst I’ve ever
experienced. I wish I could have a redo
–with the exception of our trip to Maryland and NYC, I feel like I was
cheated. While I know this school year
will be hectic with the boys at different schools, I’m hoping that it will be a
happy one.
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