Katie and the no good,horrible, very bad day

Don't let the photos fool you. I was insistent on taking photos so I could blog about Nathans wonderful trip to the orthodontist to finally get his braces. I had it all set up in my mind. A before and after shot...then an impromptu trip to the zoo....gush. I "pictured" taking memorable/but candid shots of the kids smelling flowers, touching butterflies and feeding animals. Well....it never really goes that way does it? Remember my post about camping and our sudden change of plans thank to Mae? Yeah...motherhood was one heck of a witch today.
But, let's start at the beginning.

7:59am- Wake up to the phone ringing instead of the alarm that was set for 7am.
Scream oh S%&t, grab the nearest clothes I can find, throw mismatched clothes on the kids and haul booty to get dad to work, drop Myron off at the store (he is working today with two of his good friends (bad idea) ), and rush to catch the ferry.

9:15- MISS ferry...wait for 9:40. That's alright, his apt. is at 10:30, so I should get to Seattle at 10:15 and still have 15 minutes to get to North Seattle...(wishful thinking)

Get off ferry and drive like mad woman to get Nathan to apt. by 10:30

10:45. Arrive at orthodontist....(traffic jams at 10:20???) Apparently people are getting a late start today as well

Hm...interestingly enough, my apt. was for 10am, not 10:30. Woops. Now they can only do the top part of Nathans mouth and I have to make yet another apt. to get the rest of his mouth done.
Myron calls from store. Phone is down (switching BACK from Vonage and they choose during my business hours to do it), credit card wont work, internet. etc. GREAT!

11- Head to mall to get kids something to eat. In the rush, they didn't get to eat a proper breakfast. Hit some cute shops, but a few things, head to the food ALL the way at the other end of the mall. A full mile I would guess! At least it seemed like it.

11:45- After finally sitting down to eat, Nathan calls and says he is ready for me to pick him up.
Tell Mae and Ry that we need to take our food with us and walk the 3 miles (that's what it felt like about this time) back to our van. Mae threw the best fit I have ever seen a 3 year old throw. Instead of praising her for this, I grabbed her by her hand and started walking for the door. Nope. She turned into a noodle and I ended up carrying her the whole 5 miles (yup) to the van. I was squeezing her and getting upset with her the whole time. I think I even nibbled her ear out of anger as I was telling her "NO, you are not getting a TREAT"!!

12:00 ( I hustled) Sweating, angry and frustrated we arrive back at the orthodontist. Mae is surprisingly sweet and calm at this point. WHAT?! Anyways....pick up Nathan. Wow, he looks and sounds like a different boy! At this point, I am trying to salvage this trip and suggest the zoo. WHY? Dunno. Head to zoo, find parking, pay for parking, pay to get in. Get in to zoo, head to ice cream place to get something to cool me off and make the kids happy. I know what you're thinking. Reward them?! Listen....you've been there. Give me a break.
Go to pay for said goodies and pull out my credit card...."declined maam". WHAT?!
Then I remember....woops, didn't transfer $$$ from my savings to my checking, so can't use card.
CALL bank to transfer. WOOPS, using Myrons phone and it just went out of minutes. Try to add minutes, but cannot without doing it online....SH%&!.
Leave Nathan with kids , get in van and drive to find my bank to transfer funds.
Done....heading back but what's that noise?
OH....that's right....the van is vibrating, making a funny noise and smell. Yup.
Forget that, get to zoo.
1pm.... rush back to zoo, pay for ANOTHER parking spot and get kids.
Start looking at the animals, get lost....
Deal with Mae needing to be seatbelted EVERYtime she gets back in the stroller. She gets out at each stop by the way. She also screams everytime Rylan sits in her spot which seems to be whatever spot Rylan tries to sit in.
Get lost in the zoo....it's HUGE!
4:30pm Go home...get stuck in rush hour traffic.
5:35 Make it to the ferry....miss the ferry.....next ferry 30 minutes late.
7:25Yay...home at last.
Pick up Shane and Myron, head home.
Hm....van is vibrating worse at about Day Rd. Now it's smoking, what's that loud snap?
Oh....that's right....it's our Serpentine belt that just snapped.
Luckily (for the first time today) it was near our home and we coasted home.
Now it needs to be towed and fixed in the am.
So you see......it was a no good, horrible, very bad day.
BUT.....we made it home and now I have some photos that can help me focus on the positives.
Enjoy!