In Hindsight.....

To begin, I wanted to say that my brother and his family came to visit us.  When they initially asked, I hadn't really realized I'd have a newborn at that time.  I had just kind of assumed I was going to be pregnant forever.  So I said yeah, October would be great.  And it actually is great.  They arrived with their 5 children, who are fairly close in age to mine, so everyone has had a wonderful time playing together.  

I wanted Grandpa to see how much his grandchildren are enjoying their tree fort.  The swing is very popular and has needed to be re-tied several times.  Check out Delaney's chocolaty face!  Sorry it is blurry.

Aaron had a very good time raking leaves into that orange bucket and hauling them up to the tree fort and then dumping them over the rail.  Delaney got a bit of a leaf shower, but she wasn't going to give up her swing!

Since we had fun company and Monday was a holiday, we wanted to all go somewhere fun together.  I wanted to go too.  Andy and Kera decided the Zoo would be good.  I knew the Zoo involved a bit of walking, but I thought I would be up to the task.  It also seemed like a good idea to drive to the Pentagon and park there (since it was a holiday and we could).  Then we could see the September 11 Pentagon Memorial and take the Metro from there. So we did that.  However, getting 4 adults and 10 children up, ready and out the door was a lengthy process.  

Oh, and it was quite a bit colder than expected.  I really would have made Marian wear long pants if I'd known.  She was so cold here!  Look at her unhappy face!  I finally dug through the car and found a poncho in the emergency kit there and she wore it all day and loved it.

Look!  Documentation of Rylee's first outing and her first trip to the Pentagon Memorial!  And yes, that is my son in the background, sliding down the bench.  I was embarrassed. 

After that we took the Metro to the Zoo.  And yep, there was a lot of walking!  I had not anticipated the trouble of going with 10 children and 4 adults!  I had anticipated that Rylee would need to eat, I just hadn't planned on her pooping through her outfit!  Aack!  I had only a long sleeve onesie in the diaper bag.  So on that 55 degree day I had an infant wearing a long sleeve onesie- no pants, no socks!  I did have her in my front pack and she was swaddled in a blanket and my jacket was buttoned over her.  She was content to ride there, but she did not want to be in the stroller.  She was happy to be carried, but screamed violently if put in the stroller.  So she was fine!

Here we have Marian in her poncho, and Callie having a meltdown.  I think she wanted to walk, but she had a hard time walking with us and had been banished to the stroller.

Joshua was cross because he wanted to be home before 4pm.  He had some grand plan involving the tree fort and the neighbor boy that he wanted to enact then.  I had thought we would be home by 4, but at this time it was clear we would not be.  The Zoo is very poorly constructed, and you cannot get anywhere directly and you have to backtrack a lot.  And some people wanted to see certain things and so it just took a lot longer than any of us expected.  There was also construction going on and the Elephants were closed.  I had wanted to see them.
The kids liked getting their pictures taken at all the little statues.  And we had to stop for snacks frequently.  We packed a bunch, but somehow, it is never enough!

Marian, still in her poncho.  You can see she's pushed up her sleeves, but she would not take off her poncho!  She thought the turtles (tortoises?) were very cool.
Here are my 3 oldest and Andy's 3 oldest in front of the Zoo on the way out.  We did stop by 5 Guys on the way home to grab dinner, but we left the house at 10 that morning and it was 6pm when we got home.  I was so exhausted!  In hindsight, something less strenuous would have been better to try on a first outing.   I didn't anticipate quite so much walking and I didn't think I would spend ALL day on my feet with a baby strapped to my front.  My back ached and my feet were sore!  Rylee slept fairly well last night- just a bit of alertness from 12-2 in the morning.  Other than that, I got good sleep.