It's Really Not as Bad as She Makes it Out to Be!

If per chance you were in Swope Park last Saturday and heard screaming...my apologizes. We were introducing our kids to the ZOO!

Yep, we are pretty proud of our kiddos! We took them out in public (as opposed to church that is semi-public) for the first time last weekend, and all things considered, they did pretty well! Of course, there will always be a few bumps anytime a new scenario is thrown in their path.

The event was fondly called "More Kids than Animals." So true! We went with the McCleary Family (yep, the same ones who won the Blog Contest) and the Brandt Family.

Two sets of quads and a set of triplets! Check this out!

The Brandt Triplets, The McCleary Quads, and The Ishum Quads

"Why are we here and not home taking our morning nap??"

Hmm...people watching is more interesting.

Animals?? Where??

Sarah and Her Trio

By the way, I've never seen a triplet stroller like this before! Super neat looking!

After about an hour, Ellie decided that she was nearing her "max out" point. Too many people, too much sun, too much noise, not enough sleep, etc.

Abby figured out that this was actually a grand adventure!

Elijah....Lol! I don't even know what he was thinking here, but he seemed to be okay with the whole idea.

Caleb also thought it was fun!

...And Ellie was still sad. 

How pitiful can we get? "Mommy and Daddy MADE me go to the zoo and have fun!"

This is the difference between the boys and girls: If the boys get tired, they go to sleep. The can fall asleep in the church nursery, out on a walk, or while drinking their bottles. If the girls get tired, they cry. If you need a visual on that, refer to the photo above. In the end, Caleb was the happiest baby when we got back to the car.

And then we realized that Ellie had reached the point where we needed to remove her from the situation or we would lose her entirely.

If you are new to our blog, Ellie has sensory issues. She gets overwhelmed easily. We have started to notice certain triggers and patterns that tell us whether she is just being a cranky kid or whether she is really overwhelmed. Generally, she starts off cranky and it ramps up until she "maxes out." Once we reach that stage, the rest of the day is shot. So if we can catch it (and we don't always pick up on the signs), we try to remove her from whatever is causing her to be overwhelmed for a few minutes so that she can recover. Then we throw her back into it and try to keep going. Her therapists told us to try this plan as she needs to be exposed to new environments and learn to cope, but also be sensitive to her needs in the process.

Ellie hanging with me for a few minutes to calm down.

Mommy got tired of holding one baby and pushing a double stroller with another baby, so Ellie went to visit Daddy for awhile.

Group Photo with the Lions!!

Poor Ellie. She just couldn't take it anymore at that point, even if we held her. After an hour and half at the zoo, we decided that we better call it a day. She actually did better than we thought she would, so we are very proud of her for holding it together so long.

Unfortunately, that was also the worst part of the zoo experience for us. By the time we realized that our adventure was over, we were at the back of Africa. For those not familiar with the Kansas City Zoo, that is the furthest away from the front that you can possibly get...and it's also all uphill back to the van.

Ellie screamed from Africa all the way back to the van (a 20 minutes walk) and then from the van all the way home (another 20 minutes).

We made quite the scene on our way out. One guy was seriously eyeing us as we trekked as fast as we could uphill, out of Africa. I said to him as we passed, "It's really not as bad as she makes it out to be!" Hey, you gotta laugh or situations like that will just make you frustrated!

If per chance you were in Swope Park last Saturday and heard screaming...my apologizes. We were introducing our kids to the ZOO!

Yep, we are pretty proud of our kiddos! We took them out in public (as opposed to church that is semi-public) for the first time last weekend, and all things considered, they did pretty well! Of course, there will always be a few bumps anytime a new scenario is thrown in their path.

The event was fondly called "More Kids than Animals." So true! We went with the McCleary Family (yep, the same ones who won the Blog Contest) and the Brandt Family.

Two sets of quads and a set of triplets! Check this out!

The Brandt Triplets, The McCleary Quads, and The Ishum Quads

"Why are we here and not home taking our morning nap??"

Hmm...people watching is more interesting.

Animals?? Where??

Sarah and Her Trio

By the way, I've never seen a triplet stroller like this before! Super neat looking!

After about an hour, Ellie decided that she was nearing her "max out" point. Too many people, too much sun, too much noise, not enough sleep, etc.

Abby figured out that this was actually a grand adventure!

Elijah....Lol! I don't even know what he was thinking here, but he seemed to be okay with the whole idea.

Caleb also thought it was fun!

...And Ellie was still sad. 

How pitiful can we get? "Mommy and Daddy MADE me go to the zoo and have fun!"

This is the difference between the boys and girls: If the boys get tired, they go to sleep. The can fall asleep in the church nursery, out on a walk, or while drinking their bottles. If the girls get tired, they cry. If you need a visual on that, refer to the photo above. In the end, Caleb was the happiest baby when we got back to the car.

And then we realized that Ellie had reached the point where we needed to remove her from the situation or we would lose her entirely.

If you are new to our blog, Ellie has sensory issues. She gets overwhelmed easily. We have started to notice certain triggers and patterns that tell us whether she is just being a cranky kid or whether she is really overwhelmed. Generally, she starts off cranky and it ramps up until she "maxes out." Once we reach that stage, the rest of the day is shot. So if we can catch it (and we don't always pick up on the signs), we try to remove her from whatever is causing her to be overwhelmed for a few minutes so that she can recover. Then we throw her back into it and try to keep going. Her therapists told us to try this plan as she needs to be exposed to new environments and learn to cope, but also be sensitive to her needs in the process.

Ellie hanging with me for a few minutes to calm down.

Mommy got tired of holding one baby and pushing a double stroller with another baby, so Ellie went to visit Daddy for awhile.

Group Photo with the Lions!!

Poor Ellie. She just couldn't take it anymore at that point, even if we held her. After an hour and half at the zoo, we decided that we better call it a day. She actually did better than we thought she would, so we are very proud of her for holding it together so long.

Unfortunately, that was also the worst part of the zoo experience for us. By the time we realized that our adventure was over, we were at the back of Africa. For those not familiar with the Kansas City Zoo, that is the furthest away from the front that you can possibly get...and it's also all uphill back to the van.

Ellie screamed from Africa all the way back to the van (a 20 minutes walk) and then from the van all the way home (another 20 minutes).

We made quite the scene on our way out. One guy was seriously eyeing us as we trekked as fast as we could uphill, out of Africa. I said to him as we passed, "It's really not as bad as she makes it out to be!" Hey, you gotta laugh or situations like that will just make you frustrated!