Sunday started off normal. Shane and I went to church again. I got used to pre-registering him for class just in time that we don't have to do it anymore!. I tried out the balcony this time.
Then we went to Wawa afterward for a Sunday treat.
But today was going to be different. We were supposed to meet Dylan's family at Wawa. They didn't show and they didn't answer the phone, so we dropped by.
The doorbell was broken.
The dog clued John in, though. He came down and apologized. Eli had been on his phone. My text and phone call must have been distracting, so Eli swiped them away to continue playing and never told John I'd reached out!
So an hour after we left, Shane and I found ourselves back at Wawa.
This time with a merry horde and headlamps. John had told his kids they could get Wawa with us and they were determined to collect.
I normally don't look at the candy at Wawa, but the longer we stayed the more I looked. There were some fantastic sounding combinations that kept drawing my eye......Snickers + brownie....dark-chocolate + mint Kit-Kats.....Apple-Cinnamon Fig bars....and all the M&Ms...(which Shane "hates!").
And yes, the kids all noticed the candy, too.
John had bought his boys slurpees the last time they visited. They remembered. When he consented for more, Shane assumed it meant him, too! I went ahead and allowed it.
There weren't tables and we all rode together in John's company car, so we ate out front.
I like to do stuff like that occasionally, because I think it keeps standards realistic. No chairs? Sit on the ground. Not your preferred ambiance? Keep your peace and enjoy yourself anyway.
Today's mission wasn't Wawa, though. After eating, we packed in the car and headed to the Blue Ridge Tunnel (That should explain the headlamps).
John was the prepared one. He'd been through the tunnel before and packed flashlights, snacks, and water.
I thought we'd park right outside the tunnel, but it turned out to be a 3/4 mile to get there.
The boys rushed ahead and out of view. I wasn't worried, because the trail was near perfect for dealing with kids. There were no cars, there was a giant fence on one side, and "Don't climb on the rocks" on the other. They could only go forwards or backwards and if they did stop to climb, I'd catch up!
John hung back with Ava. She sometimes had trouble with the boys. She feels left out at times by the boys' behaviors and by being the only girl. Another part of it seems to be that she's very aware of everyone around her while the boys are oblivious. Ava pays attention to where the group is, notices when John and I talk, pauses when another kid starts talking, etc. The boys all talk over each other with wanton abandon. I'm not sure they listen to each other so much as take pauses to breathe and think about what they're going to say next.
In general, getting along with new step-siblings isn't always easy.
Not that Shane understands.
During the car ride, he announced, "I'm so jealous of all of you! You have brothers and sisters!"
At least it was a break from humming. Driving with that many kids all talking at the same time feels a little bit like driving with an explosive payload and hoping nothing ignites (We had a few close calls and one incident that everyone says a different thing happened).
But back to the story at hand. Perhaps you noticed the giant tunnel opening looming larger in the pictures? The Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel was opened in 1868. Where it used to be for trains, you can hike it (and apparently bike it).
The path isn't even and water collected along the sides. In that water, were crayfish.
John said the last time they went through the tunnel, Dylan and Eli got mad at Ava for stopping to look at all the crayfish. This time, Shane was there and he wanted to see every last crayfish, too. Dylan stuck with Shane and therefore Ava, but Eli wanted to run ahead. I ended up with Eli looking back at the others.
It got dark. There was a stretch where we couldn't see the far end of the tunnel. My phone only had 25% battery, so if John hadn't brought flashlights I don't know if my cell's app would have seen us through.
Eli and I turned our flashlights off for it to be more scary while the back crew blinded every crayfish they came across.
John and I eventually switched so we could spread out the frustration about not moving forward equally among the parents!
It was still a great trail to do with kids, because there was nowhere they could leave the path. It was forward or backward for 3/4 of a mile underground.
I asked the kids to do a victory pose when we hit the far side.
A point of contention between the kids was how to handle the bugs. Shane and Ava didn't want to kill any while Eli was afraid of spiders and Dylan loved to crush them.
I thought Shane was making things up about seeing moving shadows when it turned out he was right: There was a snake in the wall!
The return trip went much quicker than the stop and go we started with.
Near the end, Ava was mad at Dylan and walking ahead. Eli asked if she was mad at him and walked with her. I noticed they were holding hands and tried to get a cute picture, but (as said before) it was dark.
We walked about 3 miles in total. Excellent kid exercise in the great outdoors for a Sunday afternoon!
We would've got back to the car sooner if Shane didn't stop to look at every ant and Ava didn't ask to pet every dog.
We did make it back to John's and the kids all vegged out on electronics for a little while. John and I sat and talked.
Quick creative shout-out: Ava listened in to us talking at first and got in a friendly argument with John about how clean the house was. He made a bet that if she tried to sweep the kitchen she'd see there was plenty of work that could be done. She disagreed, but didn't have a broom so she made one out of paper!
Overall, the trip made the day feel like a parenting win. Everyone got out, socialized, exercised, and returned home in the same condition we found them in (if not better!).
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