Since the rapid onset of summer vacation mania in early June, I've been seeking a way to dispell the attitudes that apparently arrived in their packet of end-of-the-year crap from the school. I figured a change of scenery might do the trick, and arranged to borrow a friend's family cabin for a couple of days.

On Sunday morning, we loaded our van with 9000 articles of clothing, enough bedding to sleep a small village and two cases of juice boxes and hit the road. The trip to the cabin was supposed to take just under four hours, and we planned to arrive around two o'clock. One of my dear friends from high school was staying at the cabin with her husband and two children for the weekend, and they were leaving as we arrived.

We stopped an hour before the cabin at a Super McDonalds Play Bonanza and let the kids run wild, after tanking them up on fast food. Once they started sagging, we emptied bladders and marched them to the van for the last leg of the trip.

We arrived right on time, and exchanged pleasantries and keys, and our friends drove off. I think they were smirking in the rear view mirror. Or perhaps they were flat out cackling at the thought of my wee angels spending a restful couple of days at the cabin.

In any case, there must have been something mighty bracing in that crisp mountain air because it revved the kids up like someone hit the 'nitro' switch. For the first couple of hours, they ran and ran and ran, up the ladder, down the ladder, onto the deck, into the house, under the table, onto the porch, and back up the ladder again.

I chuckled, and supervised, and assumed that once the newness factor wore off, they would mellow out, and you know, like, hang. Chill with the 'rents.

BUT NO.

There was no chillin' to be had. We took a decent up and down the hill type jaunt after an hour of maniac house exploration, thinking that would wear them down.

*eeeeeeeeegh*

I fed them a big dinner and read them stories in their warm jammies. That is, when I could keep them from trying to scale the ladder again. We all collapsed shortly after 9 pm, out of sheer exhaustion and stress.

The next morning, we were up with the sun, and after a quick breakfast we hiked up to Echo Lake. The kids really enjoyed seeing snow for the first time, and we spent some quality time poking at the drifts with found objects. Apparently, there is nothing funnier than someone getting hit on the butt with a snowball. It was a fairly short hike, about a mile each way, but climbing up almost 1000 feet from our cabin. The views were spectacular.

Probably the sweetest thing was seeing my 2 1/2 year old tromping away up the hill, siiiiiiing at the top of her lungs, all her favorite little tunes. Twinkle, Twinkle, ABC, Baa Baa Black Sheep and some of the Hi-5 ditties. She was loving life, and I was loving watching her love it.

My oldest was all about the posing. I remember doing this at her age too, arranging my body into dramatic poses that I was sure would look cool. Thank goodness for digital cameras, because the film I would be wasting on bizarre 'vogue' photos would cost me a fortune.

My son was just happy to find a walking stick and to whap things with it. While giving a play-by-play of the whapping action. "I'm going to hit the snow, and look, it's coming off. I'm going to put snow on my stick and then I'm going to hit the road. Oh no, the snow won't stay on the stick. I better put it in my pocket. Wait! It will melt. Oh no. Melting snow is funny!"

Echo Lake was gorgeous, but the wind was very cold and we opted to head back to the cabin for lunch. After entering the cabin we were sure the kids would fall into deep, coma-like sleep from the hike.

BUT NO.

Up and down, up and down they went on the stupid ladder. Up and down, up and down went my stress load. We decided to go out for lunch, and made the 20 minute drive into South Lake Tahoe. After a quick lunch, we drove into Nevada to go to the beach I like. My oldest was perplexed by our journey into another state.

"Where's the state line?"

"We just crossed it, honey. It was right back there."

"The map has a big red line. Where's the red line?"

"Sigh."

She was also upset that half of Lake Tahoe was in Nevada. She wanted it all for California.

The beach was warm, but the lake water is always icy. I had decided to leave the swimsuits at home, because I figured the kids would just want to wade.

*eeeeeeeeeegh.*

Watching my two big yahoos, waist deep in freezing water, I remembered another part of my childhood. No matter how frigid the water, I was going in. And staying in. (Getting my head wet was another story.)

So they splashed and played and turned blue, and then we loaded them up and brought them back to the cabin, via Blockbuster. I sent the hubs in to buy a couple of used VHS movies for the kids, and he came out with Garfield, (meh) The Princess Diaries, (whatever) and Tron.

Tron. T-R-O-N. Because your average 2 1/2 year old is all about that.

This is what happens when I'm not specific enough.

So back to the cabin, and back to the high octane fun. When the kids finally dropped at 9:30 (with no naps except for 25 minutes in the car for the youngest) the hubs and I stayed awake for a measly half hour before we dropped ourselves.

The next morning, we made good on our promise to the kids and loaded up two ice chests with snow to play with back at home. We headed down the mountain and stopped at the same McDonalds, and then made our way home. I've discovered my son has the same need to make weird noises in the car as his dad. Ah, genetics.

So much for the rest and relaxation I had planned. Aside from the car rides, I didn't sit for more than a minute or two the entire time. I have been a little shellshocked since returning home. It was a beautiful trip, but as always when travelling with small kids, I learned about the good and the bad with this type of vacation.

Note to myself:

Circus Children cannot resist a ladder with a trapdoor. Ever.
Circus Children do not 'chill out.' Unless it is in a freezing lake.
Circus Parents hereby relinquish all expectations that 'vacation' will be about them and/or relaxing until the kids are older. Or at home with Grandma.
Mountain air is super exciting.
If there is any possible snow, pack shoes with toes.
All future vacations should be planned with an agenda that includes a different Xtreme sport every 15 minutes for 18 hours straight.
Looking back at the photos, it will be apparent that we had the time of our lives.