Jaysus, mental day. Today myself and Carol had arranged to go to the zoo. It's kinda shit that we only get to hook up once a week now. Before we used to live in each other's houses but that was before school runs and all that jazz. 'That jazz' being football practice, swimming lessons etc. etc. Anyway, we agreed to leave our houses at, I had suggested 10am, 11am. So got up and started thinking about getting a picnic together when Carol rang to say she was good to leave. At NINE BLOODY FORTY FIVE!!!!!! Seriously??? Carol is never ready to go when she says she is. But today she was. Rang her and said 'what?Now?For real?' and the like and she said calm down. Get what you need and I'll give you a shout when you're leaving. So, without panicing too much I loaded the dishwasher and put on the washing machine, gathered the guts of a picnic, got four kids into the car and one dog out of it and then I went to Spar to buy bread and the kinda goodies I can't keep in the house because everyone keeps eating them. (Remember when you were a kid and your ma would say 'I'm not going to keep buying this if everyone keeps eating it'? Well, I am now that mammy. So fricking annoying to go to get something to eat to find nothing but empty packets and jars, grrrrr).
Got to the zoo, which was heaving, at 11.10 and rang Carol to see where she was. I presumed she was in the same car park as me. Not!! She was standing outside her unidentical twin sister's house. Inside the house was one very small, very subdued little girl (Keelin, aged nearly 2) who had just had a cold shower (and rightly deserved) as she had tipped a tin of paint over herself. A lovely shade of paint I might add. Oh, should point out that she only had a cold shower because there was no hot water left and she needed that paint off now, NOT because her ma is completely and utterly heartless.
Lots of 'doh's' all around and then Carol hit the road and me and the boys just hung around the car. We hooked up at 11.40 and into the zoo where we got to bypass the h-u-g-e queue (we're zoo members - no smart comments please) and we saw the pigs, cows, elephants, sheep and . . orangutans. The zoo was so busy we bypassed a lot of the animals. We did have a lovely picnic and Carol (who is always organised) produced two Orla Kiely mugs and a flask of hot water and teabags. She also had milk but the best bit was SHE BROUGHT SUGAR JUST FOR ME! Isn't she great? Seriously. Everyone should have a Carol in their life.
We were then mortified when Arthur screamed out "look at my big cock" across the picnic area. He was sitting on a big wooden cockerel and once we'd picked ourselves up we got to chill for a while.
What else? We found one lost child and managed to reunite it, with the help of an animal keeper, with his group. Then when we were leaving (cos we were very stressed about the sheer nunbers of people in the zoo) I bumped into a mum who had lost her son. Whilst I was waiting a child was brought to her only to be told 'no, that's not my one'. Deadly. So. Another lost kid.
Shattered now. Yesterday kids got to go to the beach for a big run (mostly chasing Billy who refused to understand the very bloody nature of throw/fetch/drop the ball) then we went to Malahide Castle where we met up with some good mates THEN we went to Dundrum where we saw Raiders of the Lost Ark outdoors in Dundrum Shopping Centre. Got home at 9.15pm completley and utterly knackered and cold through and through. Kids are having a great time. Can't believe summer holidays are over in three weeks. Three weeks and it's back to the grind. Okay, I give out about not having a minute to myself when they're on their hols but I do love not having any real timetable.
Oooh, just remembered. Me and Carol are thinking of going camping with the SIX kids. Fun and games. Must get advice on tent building or pegging or whatever it is you do with them.
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