It’s like running a marathon without running a marathon.

I would know this because I ran a marathon once, that going out with two little kids is just as much effort (and without the sideline crowds cheering you on).  I am so proud of Asha and Arjun though because somehow they always manage to make the effort worthwhile.  Today we walked to the Museum of Natural History for their annual BugFest.  Little did I know that this is their biggest event of the year attracting thousands of people.  Trying to push a double stroller through the four floors was nothing short of a workout.  And of course all parents know that at one point or another both kids end up outside of the stroller and it’s basically like pushing an empty house on wheels while keeping track of a toddler and not dropping the infant (and not running over someone else’s toes or worse their kid).  The first thing Asha said when we walked in the museum was “mama, I listen to you okay?”.  In other words my little baby in all her wisdom was telling me “mama, don’t panic, we got this!”.  The entire time she made sure that we had a good time, that she didn’t stray, that she was always looking out for me.  I was the proudest mama there.

The BugFest itself is pretty cool.  There were lots of activities for the littles along with so many live bugs which could be touched and petted.  Our first stop had a Madagascar hissing cockroach.  When the nice gentleman tried to convince one of us to hold it, Asha and I both gave him the same look of “you must be crazy!”. That was pretty much the closest we got to holding anything.  But there was plenty to see and see we did. I like that many of the exhibits throughout the museum are at kid level which makes the exploring easy.  We ran into one of Asha’s school friend’s mom at one point.  I didn’t really recognize her until she made the introduction. The first this she said was that her daughter talks about Asha all the time.  And after mentioning a few more complements to Asha we parted ways.  Again, did I mention that I was the proudest mama there!?

Asha is quite the collector.  She stopped at activity tables to pick up coloring puzzles, bookmarks and even business cards. Once home we had fun looking through all of it.  The best was a poster of various butterflies that she won in some sort of game.  All in all, we came home happy and exhausted.  And even though it was like running a marathon, this time, I was happy to be doing so.

And now for the pictures…