Give Me a Soft Chair and a Stiff Drink

There are less than two weeks until Brandon and Sophia are back to school. In the past three months there were days I thought would never end. But looking back, the summer has flown by. Today was the cream between the chocolate cookies. It was steamy earlier this week and will hit the high 80's over the weekend. But today the high was only 80 degrees -- perfect.

I'd told Brandon and Sophia we would do something special today and it was their decision to go to the Akron Zoo. It has interesting exhibits, is clean, easily navigated and only 45 minutes from home. A good choice.

The kids get crazy when they are excited, but eventually they got into the car with their bottles of water and snacks. This is a drive I should make more often, because even with directions off the computer, I managed to make at least one navigational error. Brandon was co-pilot, but he was reading waay too slow or I was driving waay to fast and we missed a critical turn. Fortunately I was familiar enough with the area from past trips that eventually we found our way to the entrance.

I thought that going midweek would ensure no crowds. Huh. When we arrived thirty minutes after the zoo opened, we were directed to the distant parking lot. But in spite of the high attendance, we were able to see the lions and tigers and bears (oh my!). And because it was not a hot day, the animals were active rather than displaying their usual lethargy of midsummer. After two hours both Brandon and Sophia were hot and ready to head back to the car. I'd promised lunch and they were ready to move on.

The rest of the afternoon was orchestrated by Brandon and Sophia. Our fast food lunch was followed by a visit to one of the national chain stores. I'd given each some pocket money and they were anxious to see what they could spend it on. Brandon had his eye on more Teck Decks; Sophia, on clothes. The first store didn't have what Brandon wanted, so we stopped at another.

Finally we plopped our tired bones in the car and headed home. Brandon sat down to play with his new apparatus and Sophia put on her new apparel. I sat down to read e-mail and watched the clock, waiting for Dawn to arrive and take the kids away. Now they're gone and I finally have my soft chair but I'm too tired to go fix that stiff drink!