Life 1, Mom 0

I know when I've been defeated. And I was defeated quite soundly last Friday morning. And it was all because of Curious George. Here's what happened...

My twins group had a meet-up at Morton Arboretum on Friday morning. Curious George was going to be there to greet the kids and plant a tree, and the staff would read Curious George Plants a Tree. Of course, this was in honor of Arbor Day, and there were other Arbor Day festivities going on - I just had no idea how many.

I thought Evie and Gavin would love meeting George (since they loved meeting Clifford) and I know they love the Childrens Garden in the Arboretum, so off we went at 9:30 am. My first clue that all was not normal was the long lines to go through the admission booths. After getting through that, my next clue came when I saw that the first parking lot was marked FULL, and so was the second lot.

The next thing I saw made me a little panicky. It was a big yellow sign reading "Remote Lot - Shuttle." "Shuttle?!," I thought, "I'm on my own today!" I debated turning around for one second, but we were already there, and anyway I was in a line of cars on a narrow Arboretum road and I didn't even know where I could turn around.

Our unfortunate car caravan snaked along the little road, going up hills and through forests that I would have appreciated a lot more if I wasn't getting more nervous with each turn. After what I estimate was a mile, we reached a field with guys in yellow vests directing cars to park in a neat row. As I passed one of them I rolled down my window and called out, "Is there really a shuttle? 'Cause I have two little kids and a strolller!"

He looked at me like I was crazy, as I am sure I must have sounded, and said, "Yeah, there's the bus right there." I turned and looked to see a big yellow SCHOOL BUS. That's right, a school bus. Me, two toddlers, the diaper bag, and our double stroller...on a school bus. I broke out in a sweat.

I had no idea how this was going to work, so I just proceeded to unload the kids and set up the stroller like I always do. I reasoned that I would figure it out on the way to the "bus stop." Well, I still didn't know what I was going to do when I got there. But then some very nice people asked if I needed help, and boy was I ever grateful. A nice man put the stroller in the bus, and I climbed on holding a child in each arm and the diaper bag over my shoulder. Gavin, who loves to point out busses when we are driving around town, suddenly panicked at the prospect of actually getting on one and burst into tears and screeches.

I got into a seat and tried to calm Gavin down, who was clinging to me for dear life. Evie had lost a shoe at some point and a very nice woman gave it back to me. The ride back to the Visitor Center was the longest bus ride ever.

We finally arrived, unloaded ourselves, and went into the Visitor Center, where we immediately got into a line of moms and kids waiting to see George. Gavin was not happy about waiting, but at least he wasn't crying. Finally, it was our turn!

Gavin gave George a high five only when I was standing right next to him, but Evie wanted nothing to do with George. I couldn't even put her down to get a photo of Gavin. I said "Well I guess that's it! We're done." Then the woman behind us offered to take a picture for me, and I turned around to say that we weren't done, only to see George walking away and the woman who was managing his schedule saying that he was going on a break.

ARRGH! After I got over the feeling of "This Is Not Happening," we just went outside and walked to the entrance of the Childrens Garden. That is where I got the picture above. Gavin and Evie still didn't want anything to do with George, and it was getting close to nap time, so we headed back to the "bus stop," since we had to repeat the bus ride process and I didn't know how long we would have to wait for our big yellow vehicle.

Again, we were aided by some very helpful fellow visitors. Gavin didn't cry too much on the return trip, but he covered his ears the whole time. (He took a three hour nap when we got home, by the way - he was so worn out from the experience.) If it was not for the kindness of strangers, we would not have made it onto the first bus. I have learned that some things just don't work out with toddlers, and I reaffirmed that I will always do my best to help people with small children. And the next time I take them to the Arboretum by myself, it will be when NOTHING special is going on!