ATV

Last year, P was too little to go on the family adventure (white water rafting) but he met the size requirements for four wheeling this year! So we drove further into the mountains to meet our dozen or so all terrain vehicles on which we could hurl ourselves down peak side passes :)

P and Uncle Ian watching everyone gear up:



The only glitch in the little man's seamless plan was the hulking helmet. Not a fan of dress-up or looking "not Phoenix-ish" (his phrase!) he had No Interest in donning the sizable safety gear. Fortunately for him, there was no state helmet law, merely an eyeware law. Familiar with four wheelers and knowing I'd be going crazy slow with a four year old perched between my thighs, we decided we were comfortable with his preference, so away we went!

P and I prepped for our ride:



E and P enjoying a midmorning snack (E radioing his fam so they wouldn't think they'd lost us!):



Everyone zipped around having a ball while P and I piddled about at the back of the line. It was really lovely, perfect weather, gorgeously blue skies (we see nothing of that sort in New York and I found it visually shocking on a daily basis). The trails were very rocky in some areas and without any helmets I wasn't willing to take many chances, so we fell behind the speedster Uncles quickly. Eventually the little man, hoping to catch up, agreed to try his headware, hoping beyond hope that no one would notice or say anything (he even snuck it on while E "wasn't looking!") Unfortunately, his wee stature combined with the enormous jolts proved too big of a challenge for his ill fitting helmet. It bounced down over his eyes, flipped up over his chin, basically proving ineffective and uncomfortable :)

P, trying on his helmet, briefly :)



So he took it back off, we slowed back down and all was well again. Then, after about two and a half hours, he was done. It was literally like a light switch. One minute he was saying it was so fun and two minutes later he shouted out, "Ok! This isn't fun anymore! I'm doooooone! Let's loose this puppy and walk down the mountain." Fair enough - he was way too short to stand up and avoid any of the huge bumps, and his hands had itty-bitty blisters from holding so tightly onto straps and belts so as not to fly off of the bouncing, bumping machine...

Down we headed, to read Abel's Island in the car. P's summation of the adventure: "It was fun, and then it wasn't. I liked it, except for the bumps."