Little People in the Big City.

I love my Colorado family. So when I hear they are coming to Seattle for the weekend, come hell or high water, i'm gonna find time to see them.

Well that's EXACTLY what happened. A little hell and a whole lotta water. (And some love of course, because seeing them was totally worth it!)

First let's chat about the amount of crap you have to pack in order to take two small kids to Seattle in the rain when you don't have any real plans of what you're doing. They were staying in a hotel so we talked about swimming. Pack suits. Check. Crap, I don't have one, lets hope they will play with the kids in the pool while I sit on the sidelines and take pictures or something. Water wings...double check. There's the diapers for the Gremlin, wipes, a change of clothes per kid, yano just in case. Definitely an extra pair of Minnie's for Kaelyn since she likes to skid her unders on the daily. I'll need a plastic bag to hold the 'markered Minnie's' should such an event take place. Then you have snacks, juice, stroller...wait, stroller may be a bad idea depending on what we do, so bring the front pack and stroller, a plethora of coats, mittens and a few toys for entertainment in the car. Is your brain fried yet?!? People without kids may not be able to relate that part, but I know the majority of my parent friends have been there. The bag I was using alone took 20 minutes to pick out. If we are walking around and Leah is in the front pack I cant use an over the shoulder bag, but the backpack isn't big enough to hold the swim gear, snacks, and clothes. Crap and my purse! What am I going to do with that? My attempts to be as light as possible were failing in a major way and we haven't even left the house. I chose to leave right after lunch in hopes that Leah would nap in the car. Let's just say that was a mistake.

We get to Seattle and park somewhat central near Pike Place. $20 for two hours of parking! Since when did an hour of parking cost more than minimum wage? I start to unload the Gremlin that didn't nap into the front pack. She's thrusting her body against me screaming. It's raining. I'm hungry. I get her wiggly ass in there and I can't clip the back of the pack! Drats! I ask this relatively normal looking woman parking near me for assistance, she looks at me and without saying a word walks off. I'm not sure if she saw my struggle with getting Leah into the pack and didn't want to get near her out of fear she was some rabid animal, but I was pissed off and was literally getting pissed on by the rain. Not to mention this was eating into my 2 hours of parking I already paid for. Stroller it is. Get situated and off we go to the market. Finally! Two steps onto Pike and I hear "Mommy I need to go potty real bad!" She's crossing her leg and holding herself so I know she wasn't messing around. Are you kidding?! Finding a restroom quickly in downtown Seattle, with one kid that can hardly walk she needs to pee so bad and a giant all-terrain stroller that's caging the Gremlin is going to be impossible! We venture into the nearest store and ask nicely if there's a restroom. Kaelyn is wiggling next to me, so it's obvious that its for her.
Store clerk- aka pee patrol meanie: No sorry, we don't have a bathroom.
Mama on the edge (That's me.):It's for my daughter, please...I'll buy something.
Pee Patrol Meanie: Sorry we can't.
Random shopper hero: (she had two baskets full of touristy treasures.) I won't buy any of this if you don't let that little girl use the restroom.
Pee Patrol Meanie: Fine. But Mom, you can't come into the back, she has to go herself.

What the French toast!? Are you on crack? My 4 year old is NOT going back into your stockroom by herself. Well she did, but I got to peek through the door and the bathroom was just a few feet past that. Thanks to that random shopper!

We are finally back on the sidewalk headed to The Crumpet Shop where we were meeting up. I was told to go there by one of my lovely friends and boy am I glad we did. I was already overwhelmed and sweating like a pig even though it was pouring rain. I spot my awesome Aunt, Uncle and Cousin there so we order some crumpets, sit in an alcove and enjoy our snack. I can't even eat mine because Gremlin is crying and needed to be held. Thankfully my Aunt cut mine into bite size pieces for me to devour. She probably would have fed me like a bird if needed because the look of defeat on my face at that point was getting rather obvious. The little bit of sugar from that tasty treat is probably what saved me from going crazy in the big city.

We wander around and do a few touristy things. The rain is kind of getting in the way and the girls are cold so what do we end up doing?! Hanging out at the food court in Westlake Center....just talking, eating fishy crackers and playing hide and seek with Kaelyn's balloon animal giraffe she got from one of Seattle's finest. We really know how to keep it classy, and I sure know how to show my out of town family a good time! Ha!

And just like that.....it's 3pm. Our two hours is up. I am so thankful my Aunt and Uncle are such patient people and just wonderful with kids! I just felt awful I could barely hold a conversation with them the entire time we were getting waterlogged on the Seattle streets. It took me 40 minutes to get out of downtown due to construction and I really felt like pulling over and napping alongside my kids since they crashed in 2.5 seconds. Instead, I let the defeat get to me and I cried for just a second. Shoot, I was already wet from the raindrops, a few tear drops weren't gonna make a difference. Now before ya'll freak out at my freak out....Relax! I wasn't having a mega cry fest on I-5 while driving my precious cargo home, but sometimes us parents just get flippin overwhelmed and we shed a few tears when nobody's watching. Then we slap ourselves and move on because we know we don't have time for that shit.

The girls and I drop off the front pack my friend let us borrow that I didn't even get to use, and then delivered some of the tasty treats to the friend that suggested stopping by the crumpet place if we had time. After that we ended up at another friends house for dinner. I was able to plop on the sofa while dinner was cooked for me, cold beers were served to me and my kids were watching a movie. As relaxing as that was, by the time my steak was sitting in front of my face I didn't have any energy left to even eat it. So I just stared at it for awhile, took a few bites so I didn't look rude or wasteful and decided to call it a night.

Some days being a parent is easy peasy and then there are days that every minute seems to be hectic. This may have been one of the hectic days, but I was able to laugh at the madness. So what if was between a few tears. My kids seem to cry all the live long day...I was just trying to join the party.

Pity party for one? Check.