The Walk

 The Characters:

Julianna the tiny girl with a big girl attitude, Mimi, Lily, as always, the fashionista

Mayer the lucky, Sarah the not-so-brilliant, Drew the Dawdler, Tate the Screamer

The idea started out innocent enough, but was destined for disaster from the beginning. Take the kids for a walk to "Aunt Amy's and Uncle Swan's" to see their new baby ducks. It was only 13 blocks, 1 mile, we could make it. It would be fun. The first issue was my niece, the fashionista, didn't have any shoes. I think she tried on every pair of flip-flops my mom had, plus ballet slippers and then my dad's sandals and a pair of his tennis shoes. My mom does not have small feet, size 11-12 in women's. My dad's feet are smaller, but three times as wide, 7EEEE. She finally decided on a pair of my dad's tennis shoes, but brought the sandals, just in case.
The next issue was who was riding in what stroller, who was pushing whom and who was walking by whom. Julianna wanted to ride in Tate's stroller and Tate wanted to ride in Mimi's stroller, but wanted Mommy to push. The tiny girl with the big girl attitude was not sharing her ride with anyone. Drew the dawdler wanted to walk next to Tate and me.
We set off with 5 children, 2 waters, 4 boxes of apple juice, 2 cell phones and a bunch of kleenex. We later discovered neither of us even had a key to get into the house to see the ducks. My mom and I usually walk fairly fast. It took us 10 minutes to make it one block.
"I don't want this hat! I want a different one!"
"It's hard to walk in the grass."
"Aunt Sarah, Mayer's hat flew off!"
"I want a drank." (When Drew says, "drink" he suddenly develops a southern accent and it sounds more like "draaa-nk.")
"I need a drink."
"The sun's still in my eyes."
"Can Lily please ride with you, Julianna?"
"I'm getting hot!"
"I'm riding by myself!"
During block number 2, I came up with a plan to speed the dawdler up. It seemed like a great idea at the time and it worked well... for awhile. I had Drew stand on the back of the stroller. I was already having trouble steering it, so it wasn't the best idea I had ever had, bet we made great time during block number 3.

The Catalyst

At this point, my mom and I decided just to turn around, load up the car seats and drive over. I turned around and headed back. My mom was still trying to convince Julianna to let Lily ride with her for three blocks, so we could move faster. Lily was telling them an elaborate story. Drew, Tate, Mayer and I were still making good time, when the incident occurred.
I started up the handicap incline on the textured cement sidewalk and the back heavy stroller tipped over. I frantically tried to keep the forward momentum going. I tried to pull the stroller back upright, but with Mayer on my back, my balance was off. I went down and the stroller did too. It started rolling backwards with my knuckles still around the handle bar.
Tate was screaming. Drew was wide-eyed and speechless. Mayer woke up, but didn't make a peep. My mom caught up to us, got the stroller upright and we checked the kids. Thank goodness I was the only one that came away with any injuries! No one else had a scratch. I skinned 5 of my fingers and my knee on the textured concrete. I was able push Tate back the two blocks to my parents' house, but had to leave him in the stroller when we got there. I couldn't get him out because I couldn't move my fingers.
My dad went for the band-aids and antiseptic, then he came and helped me wash my hands in the sink. I started getting light-headed and sweaty. I sat down while he bandaged me up. My hands felt weird- hot, cold, like they were falling asleep and the scrapes stung. My mom got Mayer off my back, so I could lay down. All of the kids were concerned and they immediately circled around me.
The other good news, besides me being the only one injured, was that after about 30 minutes, we were able to load up in the car to go see the ducklings.  I also got plenty of Tate kisses, which are always nice. Last night, washing my hands is unbearable. Michael (and Tate) helped me take a bath this morning. The water and soap wasn't as bad, but I let Michael do the shampoo and conditioner. It is going to be interesting trying to get things ready for Tate's party this weekend! 

Toy Story band aids :o)