Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Race Around the Picnic Table

A couple weekends ago, our little family decided to go have a picnic by the river.  We hopped into our car and headed out into the countryside.  Son #1 and Son #2 fought and played in the back seat.  My husband and I tried to ignore the noise.

The afternoon was cool with rain clouds on the horizon.  However, we drove on to our destination undeterred.  Soon, we came up to the bridge crossing over our favorite spot on the river.  The kids were so excited.  It had been a while since we had played at this popular little bend.  My husband turned the wheels onto the dusty dirt road and wound his way down to the rocky bank.  As we approached the water's edge, we noticed our favorite place to play had been invaded by pipes, concrete, and a back hoe.  Needless to say, we were very sad and a bit disgusted.  My husband turned to me with a perturbed look on his face and said.  "Let's get out of here!"  I agreed quickly and we were off in search of a new destination.

After consulting our mental maps of the area, we decided to visit a little river just west of our location.  Before we had the kids, we used to hike along its bank on random, summery afternoons.  Once, we even rafted down the river using a blow up mattress and a couple of canoe paddles in honor of the movie Deliverance.  When we finally reached our new destination, we noticed that the river was completely dry.  Now, we were annoyed.  We should have known that the drought had wreaked havoc on the local streams and rivers.  Yet, one would think there might at least be a trickle of water in the river bed.  I turned to my husband and said.  "Where do you want to go?" 

He shrugged his shoulders and stared out the window.  Then, he turned to me with a smile and asked.  "Do you remember the rest stop on that hill out in the distance?" 

I grinned and replied.  "Yeah.  Do you want to go out there?"

He winked at me and pulled out onto the road again.  "Sure." 

Raindrops began to fall onto the windshield as the storm clouds gathered ominously on the horizon.  From the back seat, Son #1 piped up.  "Let's see if we can see any tornadoes while we're there."

When we arrived at the rest stop, the kids hopped out to play.  I set up our lunch on the picnic table as the kids raced around the shelter.  Son #1 began to lap his younger brother.  Realizing that he was falling behind, Son #2 devised a plan to beat his older brother. 

Son #1 shouted.  "Ha ha!  I'm winning!"

Son #2 responded.  "No Bruder!  I wimming!"

Son#1 shrieked.  "Oh no you're not!"  Then, he put on the steam and raced around the corner. 

Son #2 pouted but then cut through the picnic area just in time to jump in front of his older brother.  "I wimming!"  He cried with glee.

Son #1 was out of breath as he laughingly called out.  "Look Mom!  Look Dad!  My baby brother cheated!"

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