Ooohhh baby are we in for the long haul with Brevitt being a tween, en force. He is giving us a run for our money or maybe that is the wrong expression since we don’t have any money at the moment.
As you know I have been dying to get away, anywhere so when Wade told me that he was going to wake up early Saturday morning to drive down to Rifle to pick up his trailer I informed him that we were all coming with him. Rifle is about as exciting as it sounds but there are a few attractions there that we have never seen, so off we went.
I got a sense of what it would be like to kidnap a child as we picked Brevitt up from his sleepover and demanded that he sit his bottom down in the truck and damn well enjoy this family outing that we were taking.
He lay down in the back seat leaving barely any room for his brothers and moaned and groaned about how dull it was going to be to drive to Rifle when he could be mountain biking with his friend. Finally I turned around and told him how lucky he was that he had a family that wanted him to be with them and that if he was going to be a good traveler he needed to learn that traveling was all about the journey and not always the end result.
Well the journey turned out to not be so grand as our rambunctious kids made a whole lot of unbearable noises in the back seat. When Wade wasn’t air slapping them as he drove he was tuning all of us out absent-mindedly playing air guitar to Pat Benatar, his mode of escape. “Isn’t this great?” I asked facetiously.
I should have let Wade linger in his flashback from his teenage years because bringing him back to reality only gave him credence to yell at the kids and issue two strikes out for bad behavior. “One more strike and no ice cream for you”, Baddy menacingly warned.
His no tolerance rules were a hell of a lot more affective than my new age counseling, telling them to count to ten whenever they felt angry before they let a word loose that they would regret.
We parked the truck and ate a depressing picnic in the freezing cold weather. In the first ten minutes Axel cried twice and Brevitt got reprimanded both times. The sun peaked out and the walk began putting us all in better spirits. We skipped and sang to The Wizard of Oz until we reached the water falls, which exceeded my expectations. I closed my eyes and was transported to our trip to Hawaii where Wade and I frolicked about Blue Lagoon style. The spell was broken when I heard Wade shouting at the boys to stop throwing rocks down the water fall and possibly knocking somebody out below. That’s all we needed was to be responsible for some innocent tourists concussion.
We explored the calcite caves around the falls with our headlamps and I couldn’t help but think of Gollum from The Hobbit living in a cave like these. I was also transported to Mexico where Wade and I swam in a Cenote in a cave in Mexico. I tried to stay present but I am a dreamer and can’t help myself.
Brevitt, in the end, had a marvelous time exploring and admitted that it was a good day, until he had his enormous ice cream and was transformed into a sugared up beast. The kid lives for the one thing that will destroy him one day.
I wasn’t happy with his piggish behavior as he lunged for his brother’s cones after finishing his. All I had to do was look at him with my disappointed glare and he crumbled into a sniveling mess and ran out the door.
Brevitt cannot recover from these tirades until he feels the love from me again and so I ran after him. “You, my little friend, cannot handle sugar”, I yelled to him as he ran away from me. The cars were passing by wondering why a grown up women would be chasing an insane beast down the sidewalk but I had been through this before. “This is my life”, I wanted to yell at them. “I’m sure yours is no better”!!!
Brevitt was taking photographs of his mum leaping through the air after skipping with the little ones.
Oh Lord, did this ever bring back memories. Funny how those trying car trips (in time) turn into treasured, humorous tales of family journeys.
Love the photos, especially of Mum flying.
Buckle your seat belt. That’s as positive as I can get!
Thanks for the encouragement Suzen!!
Darrelyn,
That is precisely why I love to write about our experiences. It turns an incredibly monotonous and frustrating moment into a humorous account of our pitiful state.
Thanks for the humorous post! Rifle looks sooo breathtaking, as does your butt!
Gee thanks Heather. I’m flattered!
I loved this post. It was so honest. I’ve been so desperate to go on a vacation I’d probabky visit a place called Rifle as well – or any other uninviting name for that matter. It lookslike you all ended up having a great time though
. Ant on a side note, your pictures are gorgeous, looks like your son inherited the photographer trait.
Thanks for visiting my blog! If you’re interested we can swap guest blog posts? I’d love to have you talk more about how intimidating it can be to launch a freelance career!
Ah yes, the stuff of which novels are made. Family intricacies, experiences, journeys. I think we’ve all been there, in one way or another. You’ve jogged a few memories!
Now THAT was fun to read!
Those last two photos are exhilarating.
Ha Ha Ha – I’m laughing out loud with you my dear friend! Yes, I understand completely! I too have sugar monsters! I love that phrase.
Can’t wait to lovingly tease my kids with it!
[...] diversions we watched them river surf at the Glenwood Springs Whitewater Park and continued on to Rifle Falls. I recommend the gently undulating two mile Bobcat Trail to anybody with kids, or without. The [...]