It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was the Day 2 of times on our journey. Hahahahaha. While planning our road trips, I try to make sure we have an assortment of activity types to enjoy -- educational stuff (like museums), "fun" stuff (like amusement parks), outdoorsy stuff (like state parks), etc. I don't even remember how I found Seven Oaks Recreation online, but when I did, I thought it would be the perfect way to spend one of our days in Iowa. Since canoeing or kayaking seemed a bit above our family's skill level as a whole, I opted for tubing down the river instead.
Prior to our road trip, I made a whole slideshow presentation about each of our stops along the way. After a family council spent going over the trip and showing everyone what we'd be doing, I assumed everything I planned was crowd-pleasing enough that there shouldn't have been any problems. Apparently, I thought wrong. Dun dun DUN. Hahahaha. Seriously, though. I don't know if it was the tubing itself, or being on the river, or the fact that it was overcast and rain had been in the forecast for the day, (or a combination of all three), but once Day 2 dawned, Alex was NOT stoked for our activity. Given Alex's anxiety in general -- and the fact that he HAS actually been caught out on a boat in the middle of a downpour and was terrified -- I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised that he might be a no go for this particular outing. Unfortunately, by the time we were drifting lazily down the Des Moines River and the crying and freaking out commenced, it was too late to turn back around and cancel our plans.
We started off with Alex's tube tethered to mine and Isaac's to Scott's, but after a brief midway stop at a sandbar (where we were able to get out and have some snacks), I decided that roping us all together would be the best course of action to help distract Alex (and Isaac at that point) and make the rest of the ride as "fun" as possible. And it almost worked! Hahahaha. Having Alex encircled by everyone else, while joining in on the family wide conversation, made the next little bit as enjoyable as it possibly could have been! However, I neglected to check beforehand how long exactly this expedition was going to be, and as we soon discovered -- it was LOOOOOOOONG. At least a couple of miles/hours too long. Womp womp. The total drifting time from the drop off point to the pick up was about 4 hours over the course of 7 miles. Whoopsie! The last third or so of our tubing time was spent listening to Alex complain and freak out that the river was endless and neverending. Redundant, but it was certainly how he felt. Throw in the fact that by then Isaac wasn't having any fun either and was complaining that he was cold, and you can be sure that we were ALL glad when we finally reached the end of the road. Or river, as the case may be. Hahahaha.
So that was the boys' perspective. I couldn't help but wondering which camp Ethan would have fallen into if he had been with us. Part of me can see him siding with the boys -- and not enjoying it at all; and part of me can see him siding with the girls -- thinking it was the best day ever! Actually, scratch that. Hahaha. There's no possible way he would have been as enthused as the Grace-led contingency was. In all actuality, he probably would have been somewhere between the two extremes, but I guess we'll never know.
As for Grace's enthusiasm over the course of the day, it would be hard to overstate just how much she LOVED the activity. Especially since we heard her literally declare how much she loved what we were doing far too many times to count. Sophie and Jane also enjoyed the day, but they were nowhere near as vocal as Grace. In all honesty, I'm pretty sure the reason why Grace loved the activity so much was because she had approximately 4 hours of undivided attention and time with a captive audience who could not escape her chatter. And since that girl loves to talk, it was most likely the best day ever in her mind. Hahaha. I will admit that it was entertaining and fun to have all the kids gathered 'round (without any devices or distractions) and hearing all about everything going on in their lives. Obviously the girls had more to say than the boys, but for a brief moment in the middle of our tubing adventure, even Alex was laughing and having fun while discussing whatever nonsense topic the girls had brought up.
In the end, I'd have to say that -- while the trip was a good 2 hours too long -- I had a lot of fun and would love to do it again. Although, perhaps with just the girls. Hahaha. Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Ioway. 😉
1 comment:
Is that a smiling Alex in the last pic?? haha I think I would have loved tubing too, although maybe a bit shorter. Sounds pretty dreamy! And like you said nice not to have any other distractions and just all be together! <3
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