It Finally Happened

I wasn't going to be held back this time.  I had been thwarted over and over by this and that and a hundred little nothings that all add up to a day gone by and I still hadn't managed to go.

Yesterday, I stood a little taller and said enough was enough.  I was going to lace up my running shoes, strap my babies into the jogging stroller, and see the world!

But first I had to wait until everyone was awake from naps, and everyone had gone potty, and everyone was wearing pants, and Hallie had her running shoes on because, well, I don't have a triple jogging stroller you know?

It is incredible how long it takes four people to get ready so one person can go for a run.  When I started the process the skies were blue, the sun was shining, little birdies were chirping from their lofty branches.  As I began putting on the final pair of shoes however, I noted the sky had dimmed.  Undaunted, I pressed forward.  This thing would happen!

As we walked toward the door to go outside, I thought maybe I heard some faint rumblings.  Probably just the garbage truck down the street, I reassured myself.  We're doing this, and we're doing it now! 

I opened the garage door and maneuvered the jogging stroller into position.  The ominous gurgling from the sky made undeniable threats, but I was not afraid.  There was only one little tiny patch of dark clouds, and I have lost all faith in rain.  I don't think water actually falls from the sky anymore.

Off we go, the air hot and heavy with suppressed moisture.  We made it half a mile from home or so, Hallie jogging along behind me, periodically saying, "Mommy my legs are thirsty.  Where's the water?"  As I handed her the water bottle I thought, "Well, it's not coming from the sky I know that much,"

Then I felt it, you know, the one drop right on my scalp.  Then another on my arm.  And then, the heavens unleashed their fury and we were caught in a torrential downpour, all the rivers and lakes and oceans descending on us at once in a wildly ferocious dance.  I gave Hallie the umbrella I had brought for her, and opened mine so Heather and Hanna were as covered as I could make them.  We pressed on.  It was refreshing, it was exciting, it was a exhilerating.

Then it began to hurt.  Looking around, I saw that the raindrops had suddenly become little hard white balls.  And my first thought was, "Finally! My life is like a movie!"  I wanted to jump, and sing, and shout, and dance.  I wanted to laugh and laugh because what else can you do when you are half a mile away when the hail starts and you have a soaking wet 4 year old, and a 2 year old who was sobbing in the stroller because it was all a little too much for her, and a 6 month old who whimpered when pieces of hail got through the defenses and hit her on the arm?

I picked up Hallie and trudged on.  I, the person that lives inside me, my very inner personal self, was loving every second of this experience.  The mother me was not so happy.  "You knew it was going to rain and you came out here anyway!"  "Your babies are crying!"  "Hanna was sick and you brought her out into this! She could get pneumonia!"  "What were you thinking?" "Hail?!"*

And still I wanted to laugh, because what else can you do?  By the time we got back home both the hail and the ran had stopped, and the temperature rapidly returned to hotter than hot, so we sat in the sun, where we could visibly see the water evaporating off of our bodies.

Here's to adventure!

 

My running buddy!!

       Can you see the rainbow?

 I don't really understand how there can be hail, on a day that reached 100 degrees. Anyone know?

*Hail really does hurt.