a morning constitutional

This morning the kids and I went for a walk. I wasn't sure how it would go. I don't often do walks with all three of them because a) someone usually gets tired and wants to be carried and b) someone usually gets excited and starts running and doesn't always listen when I ask them to stop. But I thought I would give it a shot today.

 Caia traveled in the front pack which she loves but which, incidentally, kills my neck and shoulders. She isn't a small baby. The boys gathered up their walking gear which meant a backpack for Jem and a backpack, toy binoculars, and one of my headbands  for Tru.
As we walked they decided to look for clues to help them find a dinosaur. Every break in the sidewalk or divot in the road was somewhere a dinosaur had stepped. The long tar marks on the macadam from construction work were where a dinosaur had dragged his tail. And when the thunder started, that was a dinosaur stomping around. We never did find the dinosaur because we had to cut our excursion short when it started to rain.
We were three blocks from home which isn't that far except when you have two preschoolers with you. They didn't mind at all and I wouldn't have been in a hurry to get home except for the baby. She didn't seem to mind the rain either if her chubby, kicking legs were any indication, but I didn't think having her out there was the best idea. Jem ran ahead of us splashing in puddles while Tru held my hand and talked all about finding a dinosaur.
I did my best to pay attention to him while in my mind wondering if every person driving by was thinking about how awful it was for me to have my kids, especially the baby, out in the rain. Did they think that I was completely irresponsible? Did they think I was dumb for not checking the weather report or heeding the thunder? Or did they just think, "too bad for them." And then, in the midst of my judgemental attitude about other people being judgemental towards me (did you follow that?) a mini-van backed up and pulled over and a woman stuck her head out into the pouring rain. She offered to let us climb into her van to wait out the storm. I assured her that we were mere footsteps from our house and thanked her very much for her kindness. I then proceeded to herd the kids to our backyard, feeling convicted about my assumptions that everyone I saw today was judging me. As if they have nothing better to do. The boys stayed out in the rain while Caia and I retreated indoors to dry off.
Thinking about it now, I'm realizing that even if every single other person who drove past us thought that I was a horrible mom, I would still do it again. Because my boys had a wonderful time and I really enjoyed being with them and pretending with them. Besides, a little rain never hurt anybody.