Nothing like a Friday adventure

Today was a very grouchy day for me, for no real reason. It was one of those downward-spiral type days, where one thing built on another and made me more and more grouchy (and more and more of a mean Mama) as the day wore on. By about 3:30, I knew that we needed to get the heck out of the house and do something, even if it was just to drive around for an hour. While I was driving around with no real destination, I remembered a spot I have been wanting to check out. It is a little parking area that we've noticed on our way into Keene. Its on the side of the main (busy) road, and is right next to a nice big river. I decided to take the boys there, knowing that it would make me feel better, and we would all have fun.


It was even better than I had imagined. We could get right down to the side of the river, and walked on the shore upriver for a very long time. The boys loved it, they always love when we go "camping." We found baby pine cones, shiny (mica) rocks, little water bugs skating on the tops of the still puddles near the river, flowers, broken beer bottles... :o) We threw rocks into the water, and threw sticks and watched them float downriver, encouraging them to get away when they would get caught on a rock.


I took a lot of pictures, and when I asked Darius if he wanted to say "cheese" (he said no...)


Taye said he wanted to say cheese, so here is his "cheese" face:


Taye climbed all over this fallen tree, fearless as usual.


I had to stop him at this point, as the branch he was on extended out over the river, and I didn't want to have to go swimming today. :o)


We had a really nice time, and didn't leave until it was starting to get dark, which was pretty early there, since the sun went behind the high bank on the opposite side of the river. We spent over an hour playing, and left talking about bringing Daddy back next time.


Oh, and then the car wouldn't start, and my cell phone didn't have service, and no one else was there (except one creepy guy who had been sitting alone in his car since we got there, and who gave me the evil eye when I started over to ask if he had a phone - he had no service either). So I took my two babies and stood near the side of the busy street hoping a police cruiser would pass by so I could flag them down. Instead an older gentleman pulled in and asked if we needed help. His cell phone wasn't working either, but he offered to give us a ride to wherever we needed to go. I stalled and agonized for about 10 minutes about what to do. There was no possible way we could walk anywhere, the street is busy and windy with hardly any shoulder, and the closest place had to be at least a mile away, which I could not see carrying Darius for that long. I knew most likely no one would have cell phone service where we were, and who knows if a police officer would have been by before dark. I finally decided that if nothing else, I could take the guy in a fight if I had to ;o) It beat being stranded with creepy guy. As it turns out he was a nice guy, and took us to the closest store so I could call Luis to come get us. He even waited with us until Luis showed up, and bought the boys Matchbox cars and snacks. It turns out there still are nice people around, who knew? And wouldn't you know it, the car started right up for Luis when we went back. I said it was an adventure!