Tubing Down the Rapids, Part 2

Our two older girls finally decided to drag their own tubes up the pathway. Good thing the rubber is thick! This just left three young children, two adults, and five immensely heavy tubes.

Wanting to assert his independence, regardless of the strength needed to do so, our son struggled, dragging an inner tube much bigger than him up the path. He finally talked the twins into helping and the three of them lugged one tube up the mountain path.

My husband and I had our own issues carrying two inner tubes a piece up the long path to the top of the rapids. I couldn’t get my arms around the tube, so I stuck my fingers under the ropes holding the wooden discs in place and dragged.

Once we got to the top, we waited our turn to wade into the frigid water and flop backwards onto the tube to allow the current to carry us downstream. The twins fit perfectly inside their tubes, folding their legs under them on the wooden discs. There’s no steering in this, just floating and trying to stay on as you hit each rapid and rock along the way.

Well, the first time a twin bounced against one of those rocks, she climbed out of the tube and up onto the dry rock. Her tube continued downstream without her. Luckily, my husband was bringing up the rear and he picked her up from the rock. As I have said before, we always try to have one parent in front and one parent behind whenever we do things with the children. But this was new for us. My husband and the twin went downstream in search of her tube.

Lucky for us, a kind “Tuber” had found the empty tube as he was resting along the stream bank at a quieter part of the stream. He snatched the empty tube as it floated close by knowing it must be someone’s so that when my husband and daughter floated into view, he called out, “Missing a tube?” My husband and daughter swung over to the side and the twin climbed into her own tube and went twirling away downstream.

Calm waters. Calm tubers. Calm outcomes. However, a spill in turbulent waters causes fear for all.