Day Three: Adventure Day!
7:30 am I hate my alarm clock.
7:45 am Crap. I think I need to get up earlier for Adventure Days. I know, I know some of you wake up at the asscrack of dawn, but some of us worked second shift for 25 years and have a brain that won’t shut down until 1am. Where’s that darn energy drink?
8:00 am Hope dropped off. She packed lunch and stuff for the boys. Yay. Off to the state park.
8:30 am Park ranger took my five and handed it back to me, rather than giving me a dollar change. I could use this as a teaching experience in honesty for the boys…. or I could use it as a valuable lesson in paying attention when you’re doing your job. Sidebar lesson on the meaning of “justification.” Fiver will go for snacks after the beach.
9:00 am When you call the exercise stations on the nature trail “toys” or “miniplayscapes” and let the boys do whatever they want on them, they are much more likely to have fun working out.
Note to self: it’s been twenty-five years since I walked on railway rails. Sense of balance isn’t what it used to be. Sometime later am. We’ve hiked a mile. Boys still seem entertained. Should I test their self-awareness and let them walk until they expire, or help set boundaries and suggest we head back? Hm, when guinea pigs get annoyed, they squeal a lot. Boys are much the same. We head back.
10:30 am Boys ask to go to playscape in the park. We end up climbing the trees and completely ignoring the playscape. Awesome. Although, for 9-year-old boys, their “ick” boundary seems awfully low.
“Ew. What’s that?”
“Looks like tree sap. It’s fine.”
“Gross. I’m not climbing in that tree.”
“Seriously? Ew? Hold old are you?”
11:00 am Hit the beach! My sandals suck. Ouch. Hot sand. Damn sandals won’t stay on.
FUN!! I had never realized the number of jokes one can make about swimming noodles.
12:45 pm Hm. Boys are enthusiastic about staying longer. Once again, I am tempted to experiment on them to see if they know their own limitations. In theory, by the time they get completely sunstroked out and horrendously cranky, their parents should be home, so it won’t technically be my problem anymore. Except that Ryan knows where I sleep and payback, as they say, is a bitch. I choose to set limits and they seem fine with it.
2:00 pm Safe at home. No one seems overworked. Well, except maybe me. And I still need to teach Zumba tonight!