The Toppall's *try* tubing.

Looks like fun, right?

You see this picture of people tubing?  Don't bother looking for us.  We aren't in it.  Nope, No Siree, No How, No Way.  We tried, believe me, we tried.  But we had A LOT going against us.  Specifically named Jeff, Ian and Samantha. 

My friend Beth and I planned an outing to go tubing with the kids one weekday about two weeks ago.  It was going to be the moms and the kids.  Beth found a great place in the Shenandoah, near Luray for us to go to.  It was going to be great and I was excited to bring the kids tubing for the first time.  However, as Jeff kept saying to me (over and over and over again) this was a very bad idea.  Given Sam's 'explosive' tendencies he didn't see how Sam was going to be ok on a river for 4+ hours with no escape route.  I am fearless when it comes to trying new things with the kids and was determined to go despite the words of warning. 

The forecast called for rain on our original date and our back-up rescheduled date was for Saturday, Aug. 30th.  This time the dads would be able to join us.  Jeff said he would come with us, not for the enjoyment factor (this is so not his 'thing') but to help with damage control. Again he is certain that Sam will explode and I will need another set of hands.  We got a very early start, packed an awesome picnic lunch and made our way to Beth's house.  We caravaned with her family to Luray.  It was a little less than a 2 hour drive.  After approx. 25 minutes into the drive Sam says she is going to be sick and needs a bag to throw-up in.  Really.  So we quickly produce a bag for her to use.  She does not throw-up.  Nope, not even a little spit.  However, every 15 minutes for the next 1.5 hours in the drive, Sam gives a very realistic sounding (FAKE!) cough as if something bigger is going happen.  Our day is off to a fantastic start and now Jeff is back to grumbling what a horrible idea this is.

We arrive at Shennandoah River Outfitters, use the bathroom, check-in, pay for the tubes (complete with an extra cooler tube), put on sunscreen, preventative bug-spray (Jeff thinks of everything to make this a more pleasant experience), sign the waivers and pick out life jackets to wear while tubing.  There has already been some rumbling from Jeff and Ian on how they don't want to do this.  Sam is now protesting loudly that her kid-size life jacket is not comfy.  I offer $5 at the end of the day if she wears it and doesn't complain. She quickly quiets down and is back to being good.

We board the bus to take us to the launch site.  We will be doing a three mile trip down the river.  Pick-up at mile 19 will start at 2:00pm and occur at every hour.  Right before boarding Jeff offers me $500 to change my mind on this outing and to head back home.  I know in my heart this will be fun for all of us if we can just give it a chance. 

As the bus is making its way down the bumpy road, Jeff increases his offer to a $1,000 if I change my mind on going through with this.  The amount of support I am receiving from my family is overwhelming (said very sarcastically).  As we all know, Jeff does not take spending money lightly, nor is he currently employed. So for him to offer me a $1,000 for me to do whatever I want with is not something I am dismissing easily.  However, I really think we will enjoy this activity.  I am even thinking we can do this every summer.  Boy am I living in a fantasy world or what!?!?

We get off the bus and gather our tubes.  I am going to tie my and Samantha's tube together.  I also volunteer to tie the cooler tube to me too.  Ian is having a full blown temper tantrum and can't seem to calm down.  Jeff is freaking out too, more so because his prophecy of the kids not enjoying this is coming true.  However, Jeff has fully projected his feelings to the kids and now Ian has picked-up where Jeff has left off.  Sam is surprisingly calm and is up for tubing. (I believe she has her eyes firmly set on the $5 bribe).  In a twist of fate, Sam is now telling Ian to chill and relax.  Beth keeps looking at me and mouthing "Just let me know what I can do to help."  I am completely clueless.  We have more than caused a scene with all the other people on the bus and even a few of the fellow tubers look at Ian and tell him he will have fun. Of course, Ian is screaming/crying/throwing a fit too much to hear any of it. 

For those keeping score, Jeff is now trying to help and get Ian to calm down.  He has finally provided the much needed emotional support I need to parent the kids as a team. Jeff is no longer working against me, but with me. (HOWEVER, this change of attitude has come too late and the damage to the kids has been done).  He is trying to convince Ian tubing will be ok and to give it a try.  Sam and I are making our way to the water.  Ian is being escorted forcefully by Jeff to the water.  Everyone from the bus has already launched.  Beth and her family have just gotten in the water. 

We are finally getting in our tubes.  Sam and I are settled. Jeff and Ian are having more issues with getting in theirs. I am not certain why they can't get in their tubes, but they are acting like it is foreign language and they don't even know how to say one word.  Ian is still freaking out loudly.  I have now hit my breaking point.  The next bus pulls up to drop off a new set of participants.  We have spent more than 40 minutes and have gotten no further than this next set of people about to start tubing.  I tell my Toppall Team we are not going through with this. Let's make our way out of the water and take this bus back to the main building.  I yell to Beth and her family we are sorry and will talk later. 

We reverse our steps.  Ian starts apologizing immediately and says he knows his behavior was wrong.  I am in no position to want to be gracious and say thanks for the apology.  Jeff is fully aware of the part he played in all this too and feels bad.  I am so disappointed in my family (not so much Sam funny enough).  I tried to explain to Ian that it's ok for him to not like something.  It's ok for him to not want to do an activity again.  IT'S NOT OKAY TO NOT TRY.  It is so important to me that I raise children who are willing to try everything at least once before deciding if it is something they like or not. 

Ian did not have an open mind.  He had some preconceived notion that he wasn't going to like it.  This makes me sad.  I don't want either of my children living their life like this. I hope I have set many examples for them on how I will try everything once. 

The rest of the day Jeff and the kids did their best to make it up to me.  They realized how wrong they were and kept apologizing on whatever part they had in making our trip to go tubing a disaster.  Late in the day Ian asked me if we could try again in a few years.  I told him I will need some time to get over what happened yesterday.  I am not ready to repeat this again any time soon.

Next summer I am going back.  This time I will go with my girlfriends and leave the family behind. Fortunately I have many, many friends who have the same sense for adventure I do.