Sunday's Spontaneous Adventure

This morning I sat up in bed, saw the sun shining in my window, heard the boys chattering to one another in their beds, and asked Derek, "Isn't today a good day for an Adventure?"  Derek looked at me quizzically before answering, "What kind of adventure?"

I thought.  "Where could we drive that would, round-trip, take us all day with a getting out/swimming/lunch break in the middle?"  Derek seemed to be thinking, but was soon engrossed in his book again.  Taking his, perhaps unorthodox, cue, I sprang into action.

Forty-five minutes later, ice chest packed with lunches, kids dressed and fed, thermos of coffee stowed under the front seat, we drove off the driveway.  "Where are we going?" seemed to be the chief concern of passengers and driver alike, but as true adventurers we did not let this trivial question get in our way.  We were off!  We were under a blue sky, hitting the pavement - stopping for ice.  And then we were OFF!  On our way, wind in our hair - stopping for cash (boy scouts understand).  And then we were off.

Vaguely Northwest.

The backseat had its opinions to be sure.  Luke, being the loudest, began with protestations, "The pool where my swimming lessons are would be adventure enough".  Seamus, oh he made me proud, rejoined, "No!  We're on an aventoor!"  The first hour of our drive was full of back and forths regarding how much fun Adventures really are, and an almost endless stream of awestruck voices commenting on how yellow the canola is in this country ("But it's really so yellow in this country, it's like the whole country is yellow!!" -Luke).

This is Seamus's rocking out face.  He is chair dancing to Jack Johnson.

Luke loves his "J'mark hat", as it is affectionately called.

Pretty soon a destination made itself apparent.  According to Luke, we could not get to "Bruce Wood" fast enough.  We began following a somewhat questionable route set by google maps, and enjoyed all the gravel roads it sent us down immensely (backseat said, "Weeee!" hands raised in the air....no joke).  Our gravel road began to deteriorate, but we passed a reassuring road sign reading, "Spruce Woods Park Road", and continued on the now single lane rutted track.  We crossed a cattle guard.  We drove between a downed tree trunk that had been sawn to allow vehicles to pass through.  Adventure was inevitably at hand.

Luke asked, "What's that sound?"  Derek replied, "That is the sound of the grass verge rubbing the underside of the car", because that is what it was.  Luke asked, "What was that sound?"  Derek replied, "That is the sound of a branch scraping the window.  This is an Adventure!"  "I don't like Adventures," Luke confirmed.

Since we were on an Adventure there was no question of turning back.  Not when we crossed a second cattle guard.  Not when we had to drive up into the undergrowth to go around a large mud hole.  Not when we rather unexpectedly drove into a field full of bales of alfalfa.  Not just because at times the sand seemed so soft we were certain that to stop would mean to sink.  For close to an hour we carried on our Adventure with many musings from the backseat as to how one might, on an Adventure, die, get lost, or WORSE: never see a play structure again.

By now google maps and several Spruce Woods Park signs had confirmed we were deep within Spruce Woods, but with no visible sign of human life anywhere.  We passed a dilapidated and leaning farmhouse and it's outbuildings.  We passed an unmanned tractor.  As we skirted the alfalfa field (still following an obvious path, I will add), we saw what certainly meant the end of the line for this particular adventure: eight or ten lines of mowed hay neatly crossed our path and defied us to put our Uplander's name to the test.  No polite farm girl would drive across a line of mowed alfalfa.  Instead we stopped for lunch near the abandoned farmhouse and ate our picnic in absolute peaceful stillness...except for the insects.  Granted, we did them some damage too on our Adventure.

Where the forest opened up into the alfalfa field.

 After sustenance we were prepared to once again brave the several bogs and sandy trails to follow our tire tracks back the way we came.  Mr. UnAdventurous in the back seat applauded our decision.

We found our way to a highway, and to the main entrance of Spruce Woods Provincial Park, where we participated in what I now considered to be all the mundane activities of the "UnAdventurous".  I'll admit it, I was an Adventure snob.  I wondered, looking down my nose, if any of these people had found a hidden track through the forest.  The children splashed in the murky river, watched fish swim along the banks, met a stranger's puppy named Piper, and oohed and aahed over the stuffed timber wolves in the museum.  "This is the best part of the day, by far," said Luke enthusiastically as he pushed Seamus in his stroller over the bridge, up the hill and into the shop where we waited for ice cream.  I smiled.  "You are an excellent big brother, Luke."  "I know!  And I'm going to have two little brothers or a sister!" Luke said.  Not long after this Seamus dropped the top part of his ice cream cone in the dirt and Luke diverted a major tantrum by handing Seamus his own cone, saying, "It's okay, you can finish mine."  "Sanks, Yuke," Seamus whispered through his tears.  Okay, with these two boys along, I'm not sure anything can really be mundane.

After all that Adventuring we were tired.  So we hit the road again.  This time, home.  And now we are all sun-warmed, sleepy, and looking forward to our friendly pillows.  Spontaneous Adventures are satisfying.  We may have even convinced Luke.  But we all agree, after a day of Adventuring, an Adventurer wants a hot shower and a place to put his feet up.

Visit With my Parents and other miscellaneous summer things

My dreadlocks are three months old today.  I accidentally took this photo of myself last week during a photo shoot while I was setting up the lights.  I almost deleted it and then I realized it was a wonderful shot of my dreads in pigtails!  Somebody told me that dreads are an exercise in acceptance.  That having dreads you have to accept what they are from day to day: frizzy, curly, wild, flat.  And that learning that acceptance is good for your ego, good for your soul.  Someone else said that dreads are a mad scientist's experiment in patience.  I have discovered all of this to be true, and will soon do a post about why I have dreads, and what it's been like these last three months.

My Dad helped me set up my lights, and even built me a lovely backdrop.  It's handy having Stan the man for your Dad.

Sometimes he's a superhero.

Sometimes he's two years old.

Loved by two-year-olds.

This blog post looks like it's about my Dad.  It's not really.  Although he's great, and I have a ton of fun photos of him, this post is supposed to be about Mom AND Dad, and all the fun stuff we've done while they've been here.  All the fun stuff mostly consists of hiding under blankets and jumping out and saying "Peek!" to the little guy.  But still...

Finally one of Mom!  She's a handsome woman, isn't she? :)

Mom took Luke to all his swim lessons last week.

Last year Luke complained, but this year he really looked forward to his lessons.

And at the end of two weeks hard work, he earned his Level 1 badge!!