But when it comes down to it, there have been way more times in my life (with and without family) where I have realized that I would probably be one of the first ones out of the race.
Yesterday we decided to go to Zoolights. We thought maybe a Thursday wouldn't be as busy. We left our house around 4:15, dropped dinner off for a friend who recently had a baby, and were on our way. The GPS said we should get there around 5:45. Later than I wanted. I wanted to get there around opening at 5 to get the most out of it. But not terrible.
We got on 66 and were thankful we were in the opposite direction of most of the traffic...but that didn't last long...
We hit heavy traffic. We heard on the radio reports of a bomb threat somewhere in the city and how that was making rush hour traffic way worse than normal. We had a hard time with our GPS versus signs we were seeing and circled around the zoo a couple times. We watched it go by. Saw all the lights from a distance. And I almost thought that might be all we saw. The boys were bored with being in the car, hungry, tired (close to bed time already), and anxious to arrive somewhere. And so was I!
We had lost the Amazing Race again, and I was contemplating just turning around and trying to come back another day. Our arrival time originally was 5:45 but now it was after 7. It was 7:30 before we got in and got parked. And then we had to walk in. And bedtime is 8. And it closed at 9. I was annoyed at the journey, but the boys were quickly excited about the lights. I was annoyed that we had to try and walk really fast if we wanted to see most of it, but the boys are so fast at things like that anyways that I don't think it would have been different for them if we arrived earlier...they just don't take long moments to look at things like we might.
They were excited for the lights and the animals and the possibilities. They were disappointed that we didn't want to spend extra $ on extra things like a slide and a carousel ride...but then we would have just had to stand in a line...better off to keep walking!
The best parts? The different lights, especially the ones that lit up to the music. The worst parts? All the animals that were already sleeping and feeling a little rushed and maybe not getting the full experience because of this.
Overall, they loved it and forgot about the long ride there. And seeing things through their eyes helps me to stay positive and focused in a season where everything feels a bit rushed to me....
