And a Wild Time was had by all!

Today we went to the big city to see Fiona.  We had an eventful train ride.  Unbeknownst to us, rail work meant we took a train part way, were bussed part way and got back on a train to finish the journey.  It still beats me getting lost in city traffic! LOL

We met Fiona and Jane at the train station and drove to a zoo.  I have been to several zoos but never this one.  It was really cool.  The sculpture of the red panda behind the kids is made out of hay bales, incidently!  We had a really amazing time together. Fi did so well. She is such a good big sister and I am so proud of the work my daughter is doing.  Cousin N and her daughter were supposed to join us and did not show.  Jane is annoyed, though we are both trying to err on the side of caution and not judge.  Something may have happened, but apparently she has continued to have a pattern of unreliability since she came back into Fiona's life.  To say that this is detrimental to Fi is kind of the understatement of the century. Sigh.  Jane said the reason she feels okay about the first family contacts that Fi has, is because her relationship with us is so steady and so secure.  You can see it when the kids are together running down the paths, or telling silly jokes in the back of the van.  I can feel it in the genuine way that she hugs me.  There is no rigidity to her posture. Her face lights up when she sees us.

We went to the zoo gift shop and the kids were picking momentos.  I told Fiona she could pick something out and when she went off to look for  a trinket, Jane took me aside and asked if I wanted Fiona to pay for it herself or if I was paying. Fiona had paid her own admission to the zoo and I know that part of what the Great School is working on is money management and money as it relates to daily activities.  But she is also my daughter and if I am letting the other 3 get  a momento of the day, I want to do the same for her.  Jane got that--and I totally know that at some level that is way more about me than it is about Fiona--but she let me get her the darned stuffed tiger. LOL

We got back to the train station with only 10 minutes before our train arrived.  How I managed to get 3 kids in and out of the bathroom and their requisite food from the donut shop in the station I have no idea, but  I did.  Now we are home, the kids are in bed, but the memory of the laughter of the day rings in my memory.