Flashback: Frazzled

Before we moved back to Illinois from Arizona, we would spend a large part of our summers visiting with family. We'd enjoy the various sights including Brookfield Zoo. In July of 2013, my parents and I planned to do just that-meet up at the zoo. Ethan was almost 5 and Tyler was 2.

We took the train from John's parents house in Naperville to head to the Brookfield Zoo stop, which is en route to downtown Chicago. I loaded them and our stroller up to the top of the car. It was us and city commuters on the early train ride. As we passed a few stops and didn't...stop...I realized we accidentally boarded the wrong train: We were on the express train into the city! Ewwwwwps.

Frazzled, I called my folks to alert them we'd be late. Given the close quarters, several commuters overheard our dilemma and shot us glances of pity. As we zoomed past the zoo, I wondered how'd we spend the time waiting for the return train in the city.

More frazzle.

("Frazzle" just sounds better than "aggressive sweating and anxiety" but it means exactly that).

When the train arrived to Union Station, I waved along all the commuters-they were on a time crunch, not us.

What stands out are the several passengers who offered to bring our stroller down the steps.

We followed the crowd outside and I realized we chose the right exit-we were right on the river with the Sears Tower in view (I've never met one "Willis Tower" fan).

So, we grabbed some muffins and drinks and sat al fresco along the river as we waited for the return train. The boys were content and I was feeling less frazzled.

Facebook flashback post: July 23, 2013

Luckily we finally made it the zoo and met Nana and Papa!

It's funny to look back at many, many frazzled moments with the littles. Social media gets a bad rap-earned at times-however, I love the timeline of memories like these. The photos are a free ticket to the past.

What are your favorite ways of cataloguing your own memories? Diary? Journal? Photos?