So, my family spent a day at the zoo on Saturday. It’s our yearly dad’s company picnic day where my mom and dad’s wish is nothing more than to have all five of the children there. (My step-dad) Because three out of the five of us are older now we are allowed to bring our “significant others” as it was so nicely put by our parents. This always ends up being chaos. My mom, dad, brother (brat), brat’s girlfriend, my boyfriend (sunshine), and myself all went out Friday night to a little corner kareoke bar. (Another yearly ritual) So of course waking up Saturday morning was a little harder than it was anticipated on to begin with. Of course my alarm didn’t go off so I didn’t get woken up until my phone was ringing off the hook with my mom calling trying to figure out where my sunshine and I were. So it’s a hung over very rushed around wake up (never fun). And of course sunshine and I were fighting the night before so the fight hasn’t quite gone away yet. So now we’re half asleep, fighting, and hung over and facing a day full of screaming children, not to mention all my brothers and sisters. So we finish our fight (and resolve it) on the way to my mom’s house. When we finally get there it’s mass chaos on how to fit all six adults, two teenagers, and two babies into as less amounts of vehicles as possible. Which, then it comes out that Lisa (teenager) has to work at a certain time so she needs her vehicle so that her and her boyfriend (boy – as the 2 year old refers to him) can leave early. And then it comes out that brat and his girlfriend (K) have to leave early as well, but not as early as Lisa and boy. So we end up in 3 different vehicles on the way to the zoo an hour later than anticipated on. Sunshine & I stupidly hopped in the car with Lisa & boy, so hung over now we’re listening to either country or rap blaring loud enough that you can’t hear the other people in the car. Which is normally fine & fun & whatever, but with a hang over where the tylenol hasn’t kicked in yet, it really sucks! Surprisingly, with Lisa text messaging, talking on the phone, playing with the radio, playing with the IPOD, and fighting with boy, we actually made it to the zoo and still behind the other 2 cars. Then we had the fun of all finding parking & then finding each other. Now… the chaos of having to move 2 picnic tables together (just to fit us all), then getting all of us food in between having to be introduced to dad’s co-workers who are trying to figure out who all of us are. (Good luck with that!) Well, then it was the typical looking at animals, taking random pictures for no apparent reason, & taking the family picture on the fake cow (which is getting harder to do every year my mother has more children-we need a bigger cow). Then the petting zoo, which is a necessity, & which I think is designed just to torture really small children, then to have the children when they get older torture the goats. But what do I know? So of course the 2 year old (stinker) tortured the goats & the 1 year old (bugger) cried because she was so freaked out about a goat standing in her face. So us older “children” did the most logical thing & pissed a lot of people off by having a water fight at the big round hand washing stations. Which of course stinker & bugger thought was hilarious so I guess all that matters is that we got soaked & the babies stopped crying. After that, while mom & dad were trying to decide what was next brat, K, lisa, boy, sunshine, & I pooled together & got stinker & bugger ice cream cones. Can’t get any better than that! 🙂 If I can figure out how to attach the picture of bugger I will! It’s the cutest thing! We ended the whole family experience with a cramped train ride… then, as expected, brat, K, lisa, & boy all left at the same time (no need for the 3rd car). So mom, dad, sunshine, the babies & I all went & pet the sting rays. Which, that exhibit stinks in the sense of there’s no real sharks or anything really cool, but petting the sting rays was an interesting experience. Worth 2 dollars? I don’t know it felt like petting wet leather… but I guess that’s cool to some people… but stinker & bugger really didn’t want too much to do with it & it’s now late in the day & they’ve had no nap, so it’s time to take the walk back to the car. It was a really good day. A huge chaos, but in a dysfunctional family like mine what else is there to expect? Sorry if I bored anyone… but I like to talk about my family & had the extra time at work! 🙂 Recommendation: don’t have five children! It’s a mess!

Well, I tried to get the ice cream picture but it was too big, so I just attached a picture of stinker & bugger. Aren’t they cute though?