The reality of February 29, 2012: I woke up an hour after I planned on. Everyone got dressed and ready in a hurry and we made it out the door 45 minutes later than planned with the house looking like a tornado had just rolled through. We drove all the way downtown and upon arriving I was thrilled to not see many cars. "Yes! I beat the crowds!" We all unloaded, the baby and baby carrier were strapped on, the stroller loaded with 2 more girls, and we were off! We walked straight into a very empty convention center. Huh? I know I got the date right. Maybe they were somewhere else in the building? Nope. Upon looking it up I discovered that the location had been changed between the last sale and this one. I never looked close enough at the recent ads to notice this. The new location? Five minutes from my house! Time to back track. Even though we were an hour late we still made out with some pretty good deals: $85 for 7 outfits, 2 shirts, and 7 books. Now on to the real fun!
Lunch was a little rushed because of my late start. The kids did get to eat and play with their friends for a few minutes before I had to peal them off of the Chik-Fil-A play equipment, but promises of playing at the park with more friends made the screams of protest subside pretty quickly.
We were 5 minutes late, but that wasn't too bad. It's a pretty large park, so I drove around the perimeter looking for familiar vehicles and faces. After the third lap I knew something was off. Deja vu! Did I have the time right, the place? Check the Facebook invite! My last check had been a quick scan. This more thorough investigation revealed that earlier I had skipped right over the announcement that, due to the possibility of bad weather, the location was being changed to an indoor location that was, once again, five minutes from my house. Too late to make it!
I make the announcement that we have missed "Leap for Leap Year" and take full responsibility. The tears and whimpers begin. "How about we play at the park here anyway?" The younger ones are all for it. The older two, not so much. They opt for reading in the car and keeping an eye on Maya, who is napping. So numbers 3 through 5 and I take off to investigate this new park. All I have to say is that it was SO much FUN!! We, yes me included, were swinging on monkey bars running after each other and having a blast on equipment we hadn't played on before. I had to run back to the car for my camera and convinced Bella to come join the fun. Between the monkey bars, some other thing that involved hanging and sliding, and running with Aria on my back, I later felt like my muscles were on fire. Who knew the playground was such a workout? Certainly not this thirty something mama who hasn't played so hard in a very long time.
Happiness. The day's mishaps have been redeemed. Right? We rush home (after a quick stop at the dentist office to pick up Bella's purse she had left there the day before) and don't have too much time to relax. After making dinner, practicing a little soccer with Trista, getting Ava ready for ballet, and cleaning up my disaster of a house, breakfast and all, it was back downtown for ballet. We finally made it home to collapse and take it easy. However, this day wouldn't be complete without one more dose of disappointment. Achievement Days activity for Trista and Bella? It's actually on the first and third Wednesday of each month. February 29 was neither. I had done it again! A quick reminder of our fun park day and their "new" clothes brought smiles back to faces.
In the end I think Leap Day was a success. I learned a lesson about detail, discovered our new favorite park, and am incredibly grateful that I managed to cram so much into one day. Did I mention that I ended the night by doing 3 loads of laundry? Ah, the feeling of accomplishment in the face of so much chaos and disappointment. It actually feels pretty rewarding. It's not surprising I slept incredibly well that night too.
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