I Survived Hell Day.

With my husband out of town for business, I was left with our four kids and their octogenarian, memory-impaired granny this week. It's been rough. Today was going to be the toughest day. Orion had to be at the gun club at 9 AM for shooting, archery and first aid with his cub scout pack. I had rehearsal for the Fall Musical, My Fair Lady (and no babysitter) and the Senior Carnival was on in the evening. I could have cancelled all but the rehearsal, but I never would. Senior Carnival is a tradition, so there was no way I wasn't going to go and I would rather be sore and tired than have my kids miss out on the fun little things in life. I am certain they will not remember how frazzled their mother was on days like this, but they will remember the joy they felt. Got up early, fixed breakfast, threw a roast in the slow cooker, made sandwiches and snacks for rehearsal and sent Orion off to the gun club with his friend and my camera. He took about 85 pictures. There was one on there of him.

I drove to granny's apartment, fed her breakfast and gave her AM meds, off to rehearsal. My three youngest range in age from 4 months to 3 years and they did so well! I am very grateful for all the cast members who helped keep an eye on them! Also, we are working our tails off for this musical. If you live in Ketchikan, you absolutely HAVE to come see it (buy your tickets HERE) Drove back home, fed everyone lunch, put babies down for nap, drove to granny's and fed her lunch, went to get cash and headed off to Senior Carnival. I would not have survived it, were it not for our "bolderkar":

It's a Rambler Daytrack by Walkingwagon.com and not currently available in the US. I had my mom purchase one for me in Europe and ship it over. Totally worth it. The minute we walked into the gymnasium where the games are, Corvus spotted two guys in chicken suits and was screeching with glee.

We got a few games in and I was buying the boys balloons when Corvus somehow managed to get out of the wagon and disappear. The crowd was starting to get big at this point and I had a moment of sheer terror. Corvus, is 20 months and has no fear whatsoever. He has already had stitches to the face, enjoys climbing barnacle-encrusted rocks at the beach, jumping off the dock and other dangerous things. I often joke he will be a Airborne Ranger or Marine if he makes it to 18! I am freaking out, because I know this kid and how fearless he is. The balloon people do not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. I search for about five minutes and remember the chicken guys. Sure enough, Corvus had walked back there (how he knew where to go, I am not sure; the place was packed and we were halfway down the gymnasium). He was jumping up and down joyfully, hugging one of the chicken guys' legs and squeaking. The next moment of terror was of a different sort. It happened at the bungee run. Rigel didn't quite understand that he could not be in the same lane as his big brother and had a full-blown, rolling-on-the-floor tantrum. He NEVER does that. I am Draconian about bedtime for the children, just so they don't get over fatigued and pull this sort of thing, but hey, I've been flying solo all week and this day was jam packed. If the earth could have swallowed me whole at that moment, it would have been just fine by me. I stood there reciting the first few lines of William Blake's Auguries of Innocence (which is what I do when I get overwhelmed and need some perspective). Truth be told, I would have prayed to Cthulhu if I thought it would have helped. One of the friendly boys manning the booth tried to assist: "Hey lady, can I help you somehow? Can I give him candy?" ::cue Rigel screaming:: "Does he want a prize?" ::more screaming:: It was well meant, but that ship had sailed. I somehow managed to calm him back down, but was pretty much done at that point. I gave Orion our last few tickets and sent him off to get some final games in. Duty done, time to go. My day was not done, of course. We still had to feed granny her dinner and give her evening medicines. By the time I got home, I was a wreck. I'm sore, tired, emotionally drained, but I survived Hell Day! And when I tucked my kids in, they all agreed it was "The Best Day Ever".