Super Dumb… I mean Super Dad

Mandee has been working a clothing show during nights and weekends for the past week.  As a result, our children have gotten more than their fair share of “Dad Time” this week.  This Saturday I got a wild hair and decided to take Alex, Sam and Maggie to Craters of the Moon.

Alex and Sam have been have been begging us to take them to Craters of the Moon for a couple of years now… and me being the amazingly motivated, caring and intelligent father that I am… I decided that this weekend was the time (without Mandee’s adult supervision, mind you).

I remember my parents taking me to Craters of the Moon when I was about Alex’s age.  All I remember was that it was hot and not very exciting.  Yay, lava rocks!!!  Needless to say… I went into this little family adventure with low expectations.  I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised with our trip.  As it turns out… lava rocks are freaking awesome (okay… that sounded a little more geeky than I anticipated).

I absolutely ran the kids ragged during the day.  I’ll bet that we walked about 4 miles, some above ground, some below… almost all of it with Maggie on my shoulders.

Some of the lava formations were really amazing.

Sam especially liked the ones that looked like cow poop.

The kid’s favorite part of the day was exploring the caves.  Maggie said they were “awesome, Daddy” at least 30 times.  This is the part of the story where my foresight and planning as a father must seriously be called into question.  I took 3 children down into caves, by myself, one of which must be carried almost all of the time because “I tant wok, Daddy” another of which is scared of the dark.  Yes, I did this on purpose.  Most of the day was spent like this:

On a side note… apparently, caving makes me look slightly chubbier than usual. 

Only a very responsible father would send his children down into a deep, dark, cold hole in the lava rocks.

Don’t they look like hard core explorers?

By the time we were done, the kids and I were absolutely pooped (in Maggie’s case, almost literally).  I think we hit every outhouse along the trail.  She even managed to wet her pants on the drive home.  The awesomeness never ends when Daddy is flying solo.