As I was sharing this anticipation with a friend yesterday, she broke the news. It was going to rain. Possibly storm. Possibly a total wash-out. Really? But yesterday was such a beautiful day and this was such a perfect moment, it couldn't possibly rain. So, I dismissed the warning.
Then, on the way home in the car, there it was again. Weather forecasts that would intimidate Noah's crew. But they had to be wrong. God wouldn't give us this perfect day together and then send through a monsoon, would He? Nah!
So, today comes. We greet the day to see a sky full of clouds. As Morgan and I are having breakfast and I'm feeling very much like having a pity party, she looks over at me and says, "No stinkin' rain is going to rain on our parade." There you have it! No it won't. We made a deal - no matter how bad the weather was, we were going to have an amazing day because we were spending it together.
After an extremely animated bus trip from Martinsville to Indy (God bless bus drivers!!!), we arrived at the Zoo! The kids clapped. They were so excited that they didn't even realize what we intelligent parents knew - the sky was about to let loose. As I watched them clapping, I remembered my pledge to Morgan and knew that I could choose to make this an amazing day. We exited the bus. I grabbed my crew and let them in on the plan for the day: NO RAIN WOULD RAIN ON OUR PARADE. Since the rain hadn't yet hit, we raced through the zoo and saw all of the outdoor animals! We posed like flamingos, danced like monkeys, strutted like giraffes, and pecked like birds. We had an amazing time. And guess what? (If you are thinking that maybe there was a really cool miracle and it didn't rain over the Zoo, you're mistaken.) It poured!!! But not before we got through the entire zoo to see all of the outdoor the animals! (I was really determined.)
Just as we finished the last of the outdoor spots, the sky opened up and rain fell like it was being unloaded out of buckets, barrels, and dump trucks! We decided that we'd pretend to be a family of ducks. Ducks seem to have a great time in the rain. So did we. We splashed, danced, skipped, and trotted throughout the rest of the day. We were ducks and we were going to enjoy it. When one of the kids complained that his feet were wet, the rest of them chimed in and started to balk. So, we all just took off our socks. Ducks don't wear socks, why should we? Problem solved. :)
After a few hours of being pelted, I asked the kids to talk about their favorite part of the day. I expected to hear about the dolphins, snakes, or lions. But the first response was "THE RAIN!!!" What do you know? What could have been the one factor to ruin the day became the greatest source of joy.
So, the next time something's about to rain on your parade, be like a duck and try to enjoy the storm!
