That really long story...is about to get longer...

Previously - I was preparing myself and my two little ones for a fun field trip to the local courthouse to fight a dumb traffic ticket.

The day came around beautiful and sunny, a glorious treat for the middle of March. The Ladybug was up first at 6:30, which woke up Little G...but he sort-of went back to bed when I opened his door and hushed, "It's not time to get up yet, buddy. Go back to sleep".  I fed Ladybug and started to think logistics. She eats every four hours, which meant, she'd need another bottle at 10:30.  Our appointment was at 11, which meant finding a place to feed her there before going in.  Also, it would be nice for her to be asleep in my Moby wrap when I was in there, which meant not allowing a huge morning nap.

I kept all of that in mind as I fed her her morning bottle and went in to get Little G from his hushed silence. As we all headed downstairs for breakfast, I also found myself hemming and hawing on how we were going to get there.  If I was going to keep the Ladybug up, than we were going to need to keep her occupied.  Usually a walk would do it, so I decided that we would all take the bus from our house to the courthouse (which happens to be located near the T station where the bus line ends). Ladybug eventually tired and I set her down for her nap.

Through all of this I was determined not to fill time with Little G by having him watch Thomas, because I needed him to not be Thomas'd out when we got to the courthouse.  It was a beautiful day and before I could think, I suggested we go outside and play, thinking we could run off some steam. I IMMEDIATELY remembered that Little G has a magnetic attraction to my garden which is currently a huge pile of dirt, so I backtracked, "...oorrrrr", I sing-songed, "we could stay in here and run around in circles".  It was too late.  He'd already heard the word, 'outside', and like a frisky puppy, was jumping up and down in the foyer.

I expected the meltdown that came next.  I mean, I basically dangled a carrot and then not only took it away, but held up (I don't know, what ever the opposite of THAT is) instead.  Eventually, I was able to calm Little G down enough that he forgot about 'outside'.  I got him dressed and somehow kept him occupied enough in the three hours we had between getting up and leaving.  And we talked about the adventure we were about to go on.   I reminded him that when we went into the big building that looks like church, we would have to be quiet, but unlike church, we could watch Thomas.  To which my son, train ADDICT, whined, "I don waaaanna watch Thomas!"  I was so shocked you could have pushed me over with a feather.  Thomas is my trump card.  That was it.  That's all I had to offer.  I quickly demised that he was bluffing, but just in case, grabbed a sheet of Thomas stickers (usually reserved for his potty chart that we've forgotten to use for the past two months) and some paper and added them to our luggage for the day.

It was getting later and later and the Ladybug was still sleeping.  In my morning rush, which ALSO included getting my stuff together for the courthouse AND all the stuff one needs for a day out with two children; lunch! snacks! bottles! burp cloths! pull ups! diapers! forumla! blanket! jacket! extra clothes! hand sanitizer! monkey wrench! flame thrower! etc... I had forgotten that I was supposed to have kept Ladybug's morning nap to a short one.  Eventually we arrived at the point where it was going to be too late for us to take the bus to the courthouse...except, I thought as I looked at the stroller and everything I had packed sitting in my living room, except, I was STILL going to need the stroller when I got there and the thought of taking it all back around to the car and loading it all back in there was daunting.  Plus, it wouldn't save me THAT much time in the end (it's only a two mile ride and I would have to park at the end of it).  The bus had the potential of being faster.  Gloriously, the decision was made for me.  I heard the Ladybug upstairs, so I darted to her room and got her changed; tossed her in the stroller and headed out the door.

Little G rode on his 'piggy back', which is a ride-on attachment for the stroller that he calls his scooter, while I walked down our hill toward the bus stop.  When we got there, I quickly checked my app on my phone to see when the next bus was coming.  Usually they are pretty quick, but sometimes the scheduling is wonky and it makes more sense to keep walking into our little village where there is the possiblity of at least three more bus lines going through.  Sadly, the app was malfunctioning so I had to, gasp, stand there like a normal person and wait.  So we waited.  And waited.  And waited and waited and waited.  And I started to get really nervous.  So I made the decision to leave.  And no sooner was I halfway between my bus stop and the next one (which is inexplicably only two blocks away), and a 50 bus rounded the corner...which meant I was going to have to RUN to catch it at the next stop.  So I ran down the street like a lunatic with Ladybug in the stroller, Little G hanging onto the back and all of our stuff jostling in the basket below.  The sidewalks are crazy-bumpy so I kept telling Little G to HANG ON!!!!

to be continued...(here) (sorry...who knew this story of one day in my life would be so epic!  And yet...not really.  I mean...its essentially just a story about the logistics of hauling around two kids to a traffic hearing...I think I told both my birth stories in shorter prose)