::adventures from the mini van {no. 1}::

motherhood is beautiful and i love to paint word pictures that magnify that beauty. lets be honest. motherhood is also messy and crazy and unpredictable and no one has it all figured out. so please enjoy the first rendition of adventures from the mini van.

sunday morning we packed a picnic lunch and diaper bags and a bottle for the baby and the bjorn and milk cups and a snack for yours truly and water cups and headed to the park. oh and i had just poured a cup of coffee in my favorite mug a half hour earlier so i had to reheat it, because what mom finishes a hot cup of coffee on the first try, and take it with me in my favorite mug. ya know, the one without a lid. this doesn't end well.

so we are off to the park in our mini van with our picnic lunch, diaper bags, bottle for the baby, bjorn to carry her in, milk cups for the big kids and a snack for me because doggone-it i keep forgetting to eat, water cups and my open mug of coffee. low and behold jacob turns a corner on two wheels while i am taking a sip of my coffee and yep, all down the front of my shirt. the shirt that was the tenth one i tried on because lord knows nothing fits after having a baby. okay, so he didn't really take the corner on two wheels. he was driving perfectly normal when i suddenly developed a hole in my lip that lead to this tragedy. but sometimes i blame him for insignificant things like the time i peed in my pants, which is a story for another time.

we arrive at the park and he takes the big kids over to the play area while i load up baby girl in the stroller with the diaper bags and all of the above mentioned loot that is absolutely necessary for a picnic at the park.

the kids are playing beautifully like they always do when eisley decides she wants to go to a different play area. i do my best to change her mind because i have laid out a blanket and the snacks and our bags and i am totally set-up in this spot for our play time. she insists and because i realize this is not an issue that truly demands my insistance on staying put, i walk with her to the other play area. durgin follows. there is a new rocking-car-thingy in this play area. have i mentioned i have a little boy, almost three, that is craaaaaaazy about cars? if you have a boy, i don't even have to explain. they proceed to the car and hop in. durgin gets in first, this makes him the driver in their minds. the steering wheel is actually in the dead center of the two seats so either of them could have been the driver but they did not see it this way. so for the next half hour i used my mad-refereeing-skills to keep turns in check and tears at bay. i was unsuccessful.

tears flowed.
sassy mouth took over.
after about seventy-five that's very unkind's and do not tell mommy no's and more back-talk than i care to admit, jacob and i had had enough. i pushed the stroller while holding one screaming kiddo by the hand and he carried the other screaming toddler to the car.

we arrived home and welcomed nap time.
tis the life of three under five.
both beautiful and messy.

*linking up for better mom mondays*
*linking up for mingle mondays*