Yesterday - Zoo, Massage, Upset

I think that we are all pretty worn down - not just our family, but everyone. Many of the kids had a hard day yesterday, and Alaina and Ally were no exception. Thankfully, S and L were great! There were several points that Alaina just got sad; along with that, she got stubborn. She would pull away from any of us trying to hold her hand and turn her head. It's a little hard to tell the difference between mad and sad.

It was a beautiful day to be outside at the zoo. My camera battery died, so I'll try to swipe some pics from other blogs! The surroundings were not beautiful, but we did get some good looks and entertaining moves and sounds from several of the animals. Everyone pretty much walked together because Rebecca (our guide) said it was very big. Ally fell asleep and had an accident in the stroller just a few minutes after she had gone to the potty... she has seemed to regress in that respect over the last 2 days - 4 "accidents". So, we'll bring out the pull-ups and just move on. I'm sure it's just a little attention-getting thing on her part. After all, her little world has also been shaken a little. Not making a big deal out of it!

We had lunch with the group at a dumpling restaurant. It was good, but by that point many of the kids had reached the "I've had enough" point. Let's just say that our corner of the restaurant was very loud!

I had promised S and L that I would take them for a massage this trip since we forgot last time. So, we 3 along with 3 other moms (Jodi, Pam and Loree P) headed out to find a massage. Once we arrived, they ushered us into a big room lined with recliners on each side (I was so gald we were all together). 5 of us had guys and Jodi got the only lady! S and L laughed for a good part of their 90 minute foot massage (which did include our feet, legs, arms, feet, neck and back). My guy was pretty rough and beat me up and pulled me every which way - it hurt a few times. Lauren and Sara's guys must have taken it a little easy on them because they didn't hurt! They were both so ticklish that they giggled thru most of theirs! It was fun to do, and the dads may go today! I'll try to steal a picture from Jodi!

We have tried to notice a pattern for Alaina's saddness, but don't really see one. She was upset when we put Ally into "her" stroller (because it reclines). Then she was very upset as we "walked" to dinner with the group. Because we were walking along a busy street, we insisted that A and A hold hands with a grown up. No big deal, right? Well, to Alaina this was very frustrating (although, she has held our hand on numerous occassions) and she whimpered and tried to pry our hand loose, which made us have to hold tighter. By the time we made it to dinner (an Italian place - very good - 22 of us), she was crying full force and Doug had picked her up. I was carrying Ally, who asked "What's wrong with Ni-Ni (Alaina)?" I told her that Alaina was very sad and that she didn't want to obey mommy and daddy. Ally looked at me and said with a smile, "Mommy, I am very happy!" Yes, there is a mutual love and rivalry between these two - no surprises there.

So, I sat outside with Alaina while the rest of the group went inside. She continued to cry and I tried to calm her down with my lame attempt to sing to her "Jesus Loves Me" and a few other favorites. Thankfully, she isn't too critical of my singing voice, especailly since it's rather raspy these days (Pretty sure it's allergies, because I feel fine). She finally calmed down after about 15 minutes of sitting and singing (or maybe she just decided she would rather join the group than continue to listen to my songs!!!), we went inside and enjoyed a nice dinner. All was fine once again, so we walked to get some ice cream, met a few other families and called it a LONG day!

More later --