Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Tally Ho!

That is exactly what I felt like saying when we pulled out of our driveway on Monday. On a family outing. Whew. We finally acquired vehicular transportation suitable for 2 parents, 3 babies and that ever important, never leave home without it, partridge in a pear tree.

To Cascade Springs we go! We left around noon. Not bad considering the party wanted to leave around 11. Only an hour behind? Cherry! And I only packed 3 bags. A diaper/changing bag. A feeding/bottle bag. And a small backpack with small amounts of same contents of before mentioned bags to take along on the walk. (Keeping up so far?) We planned to be gone about 3 hours. So packing was intense. (No sarcasm there.) Just a short laundry list of stuff, er - stuffed into the bags. 6 bottles. One can of formula. 8 burp cloths. 6 onsies. (Little Gabe's spit up is the stuff of legends. Entire outfits done, ker-put with one massive burp.) 3 pairs of pants. 3 sleepers. (OK, so I might have overdone it slightly.) 3 beanie hats. 3 sun hats. You never know the weather up in the tops of the mountains. 3 jackets. 12 diapers. 1 mini pack of wipes. Bottle of sunblock. 55 SPF of course, for me and the wee ones. 2 Subway sandwiches. 2 brave souls and 3 darlings who I suspect never really knew we went out of the house.

My sister's family were the brains behind this trip. Meaning it was their idea. They were great to do all the extra waiting while babies were fed, burped, packed up, changed etc. My little brother and dad also came along. I called and invited them the night before. I acted all casual, like it would be fun if they came. (Which it is. Always.) But really, I was glad for the extra hands.

So we drove and parked with our food, ready to picnic, only to be told by the friendly Park Ranger, who looked like he could also be very convincing in a pirate reenactment, that there is no picnicking. OK, time out here. Really National Park? Really? You expect Americans to come to a park just to look at nature? Really? We gather and eat! That is what we do! In fact, I'm pretty sure 'gather and eat' is part of the Preamble of the US Constitution. 'We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, get together on national holidays and eat.' I'm paraphrasing of course. Alright, so we didn't officially 'picnic' at a table. But our large, family cars served us well.

Out of the driveway? Check. Arrive safely at destination? Check. Lunch? Check. Now to walk around in nature. In fact, about ten minutes into our walk, I had to remind myself to look around. It was such a crazy rigmarole getting the kidlets in their jackets, hats, (I went with the beanies) buckled with covers over their seats, that I almost forgot why we were there.

It's amazing what people will tell you when you are pushing a pram made for three.

"Triplets huh? I thought having twins was bad enough!" Said the lady who was standing next to her twin teenagers.

"Triplets! Oh my! I have to ask, are you breastfeeding?" Seriously. Straight to the breastfeeding. But don't worry, it was quickly chased with a story of her neighbor whose 18 month old bit a hole in her nipple. I'm not kidding about this. This was an actual conversation I had on the trails of Cascade Springs.

"Are there three babies in there?" I'm a polite person. So the sarcasm in my brain didn't come through. I really wanted to tell them we were pushing around our three chihuahuas, Mitzi, Yarrow and Hank.

We were stopped a few times. Smiled at a lot. It wasn't your average friendly holiday smile. It was more of a "you must have your hands full if you're pushing a stroller that size around!" smile. All in all, it was a very successful trip. The babies seemed to thoroughly enjoy nature. Buckled in their stroller, with their hats nearly over their eyes, bundled in jackets, with a canopy and cover over them. Oh yeah, I'm sure they had a great time looking for the fish. I know I did. Nature is awesome. Getting out of the house is awesome. Spending time with your most favorite people in the world (although not all of my favorite people were there) is awesome. Walking behind your husband pushing the stroller made for three is awesome. The residual back comments were probably my favorite.

"Did you see that? There were three. Sheesh."

"Whoa. That does not look fun."

"...I know, triplets. I saw." Head shaking in disbelief.

Well, believe it people. We have three kids the same age. And a mini van. And a modest size rambler in an American suburb. And we went on a family picnic on Memorial Day. And I love every second of it all.

Sorry no pictures. I'll say it's because I wanted to leave this post as a cliff hanger. Pictures to come. Come back and check it out. Not because I forgot my camera in the car and I now have to patiently wait for my sister to email the ones she took with her camera. No, I'll go with the first reason. Cliff hanger. Wooooo. Aren't you excited?

6 comments:

Mike/Margaret said...

It sounds like a great place to visit. Maybe we can do it in Sept. Love to all of you and thank you for the encouragement.

michael. mindy. dane. said...

:)

Can't wait to see the pictures. So bummed we weren't there for the first outing, but it sounds like it was a success! Let's get together soon. It has been far too long, and Dane is ready to wrestle Christian and Gabe!

Grant and Candice said...

You crack me up. So hilarious. Glad the first outing was smooth sailing...can't wait for pics!

David and Brooke Gallagher said...

Hey were we not there first outing? J/K! Sounds like you had a lot of fun! We can't wait to see pics!

Shauna said...

How did I miss the biting of the you know what conersation! :) Pictures are coming...

The Anderson Fam said...

I bet you guys were soo cute, I love every minute of your writing. You are so talented girl. Love ya and miss seeing your smiling face everyday despite all odds. I am sure however, you do not miss seeing mine or at least in the facility you would see me. The kids look beautiful. Give them kisses from their auntie jami.