What a day!

I know I'm not alone in this frustration. The ex, won't answer the kids calls, he wont answer their texts. I knew it was coming. Fathers day weekend, and he wasn't going to get them. What was I supposed to do? All over television there are ads that tomorrow is Father's Day. They're teenagers. They're fully aware of when he doesn't get them. This time though, I fought back. I planned an eventful day to take their minds off things. As usual, nothing in my life ever goes as neatly as planned. Years from now, the boys will sit around a Thanksgiving dinner table and laugh at me. I'll be fine with it though, because they will by then have forgotten the reason for the adventure.

I asked around, what could I do with two teenage boys, to distract them and make them have fun? Someone suggested, "go visit the caverns, go canoeing". First, I was going to take them on an island adventure, but the price, OUCH! As I checked out the prices for caverns, and canoeing, with half the price, my idea was sprung.
Justin chose not to go, at 18, I guess his friends are more appealing than a day with mom.

We would go visit the caverns in the morning, stop and have a picnic lunch, and then take a 45 minute canoe ride. By then, it would be evening. We would rent movies, and have a bonfire and smores. In my head, that's how it turned out. The reality was quite different.

The caverns were great. We "mined" for gemstones, and went four levels down. Taylor wasn't happy about having to duck so much to avoid hitting his head. He thought the graffiti was neat though. Zachary, was actually really paying attention to our tour guide. He even asked her a couple questions and experienced drinking cave water.
 We came out of the caves, and had our picnic. Taylor wasn't happy about me taking pictures, and we were ready for the next part of our adventure. This is where sometimes, it gets tricky.

We arrived at the livery, only to find out that the original 20 dollar package, wasn't available. The next one available was 30. I had 28 dollars, and the card machine was down. It's fine the lady says, I'll take 28. Two hours one canoe. Meet at the second bridge.

When I had read the website, there was supposed to be a half hour mandatory class. They didn't offer it, but how hard could this really be? Taylor sat in the front, Zachary in the middle, and I, in the back.

Two minutes in, we were stuck! It took us a few minutes, but we managed to get off the rock. Three minutes later, another rock. We were beginning to figure out that the little v's in the river, were rocks. We couldn't figure out how to steer away from them.
 Finally, we managed to get away from the rocks, and out into the open river. Just as we figured it out though, there was a fork. Which way did she say to go? We asked each other, but none of us could remember. The little island off to the right, beckoned. There stood two cranes, and a deer. I wanted to get close enough to take pictures. We pulled up on the island, and stopped. I didn't get pictures, because of course everything ran off at the sight of humans. Look, a clam shell! I'll keep it!
This whole time, Taylor has been quiet and withdrawn. "Taylor, we're having fun! Why aren't you enjoying this?" Of course he doesn't answer. I ask what he would rather be doing, and am met with silence. Finally, I say, ok boys..it's time. Only....wait a minute. The only way for us to get back is to paddle upstream. It can't be that hard?

Oh no, it is! It's just that hard. We paddled, and then went backwards. We paddled and got stuck on rocks. Taylor finally took his socks and shoes off, jumped out of the boat, and pulled us off the rocks. He did that several times. That's when I realized, he was having fun. He was grinning. No amount of pulling us off the rocks though, could get us upriver.
Finally, four kayakers came along. After explaining to us that we were just simply paddling in the wrong direction, and would never make it upstream, they offered us guidance on proper canoeing techniques. Including how to steer the boat to avoid the rocks.

We arrived safely at the second bridge. The guys with the bus, were laughing. They had already heard about our upstream paddling. They had began to get worried,until the kayakers told them we were on our way. Taylor excitedly asked, "how long were we gone?" Four hours. We traveled four hours in the river, on what was supposed to be a two hour adventure.

The ride home, the boys compared the gemstones they had mined for. When we walked into the house, we knew we were too exhausted for smores. A bonfire would take so much effort. Everyone tuckered out early. Before they tuckered out though, Taylor snuck back downstairs. "Mom, put some aloe on your arms. You're pretty burnt."

We will be sore tomorrow. We will all complain that we feel as if our arms are falling off. Tomorow night, I'll go back to work and the house will return to its normal craziness. Twenty years from now, my children will tell their children, how I made them paddle upstream and managed to get us lost in the river. The memory of Taylor's grin, when he jumped in the water, and him sneaking downstairs to hand me the aloe, will be worth the sunburn.