"Wow! This place is huge!" Jesus said slightly leaning over the railing in general awe.
Lena gently grabbed his shoulder and guided him away from the railing. "Do you remember what the movie said formed the Grand Canyon?"
"Um, I didn't know I was gonna have to learn that information. I wasn't really giving it my whole attention." He admitted still looking at the canyon.
"Right, you and Callie were giving all of your attention to each other. That's why Mom switched you seats. The Grand Canyon was formed by erosion. See the river down there?" Lena said pointing. "That is the Colorado River. Over thousands of years it sort of wore down the rock."
Jesus looked at Lena funny before turning to Stef. "Is that true, Mom? I mean this is Mama's first trip here, but you have been here lots of times."
"Mama always knows this stuff. However, I did always have a theory of my own. Have you ever heard of Roswell, New Mexico?" She asked as her wife rolled her eyes and the kids gathered closer. "Well, it is a city about eight hours from here and they claim they had a real alien crash down there a long time ago. I always liked to think this was a bigger alien crash site."
"Oh Mommy, that makes so much sense." Jude said looking back at the canyon.
"Can we go down there and look around? I saw a group of people with backpacks… I know I could do it, Mom, please?" Jesus said fairly begging.
"Mom was just being silly about the aliens…" Lena said getting the kids back straightened out. "It was really erosion like I said. Jesus, the hike that would take you to the bottom is about an eighteen mile hike. That would be more like thirty-six miles round trip. You have a lot of energy, but I have never seen you go more than about a mile before you wear out. The people you saw were planning on camping at the bottom for at least one night before coming back up here."
"Mama's right, Jesus. I think only Mom and I could make it all the way down there." Callie said weighing in. "That's because we run together. I can run more than two miles, so I would probably be okay."
"Callie, I don't think I could go the thirty-six miles. However, I will take you on one of my favorite hikes. We won't go to the bottom, but we will get to see a little more. It is more like a mile and a half down there. We can eat lunch at the rest area and then come back up."
Callie and Jesus looked at each other and crinkled their noses. "I can go much farther than that, Mom! Maybe Jude and Mama can only go that far, but we could both hike longer."
"What you are forgetting, Bug, is that if you hike a mile and a half one direction, you have to hike that far back. The way back is always much harder. I think for our first time it will certainly be far enough."
XXXX
"Is it my turn to be carried yet?" Mariana asked about halfway through the short hike.
"No. I already have Jude on my back. You are older than him and you have to walk." Stef responded getting worn out quicker than she anticipated since she had to carry the six year old.
"Are we going to stop for water again soon?" Brandon asked. "I am thirsty again."
"Can't you get a drink as you walk?" Lena asked demonstrating. "We don't have to stop every time someone is thirsty."
"Maybe some of us could just go back to the top and wait for the rest of you?" Mariana asked slowing her walk way down.
"No way!" Brandon declared. "Quit being a baby!"
Mariana started to sulk and Lena put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Nope, none of that. You are not a baby and we don't have time for a tantrum. We are going to take our family picture from the area Mom was telling us about. I really want to see it and we are all going together."
"Jesus, Callie! Slow down there and wait for us." Stef called ahead as they turned a corner without the rest of the family.
The two slowed down, but did not come to a complete stop. Soon Stef caught up and set Jude back down on the ground. "We saw a bear while you were over there!" Jesus said excitedly.
"No, you didn't!" Brandon said, but halfway believing his little brother.
"Yes, we did! Didn't we, Callie?"
"Well…" She started.
"I did. Maybe Callie missed it. It was huge, Brandon! It almost ate a guy down there, but I threw a rock at it. Then it got scared and ran away! For real!" Jesus said rapidly, obviously making it up.
"Oh, what an active imagination my little boy has." Lena said smiling and tousling his hair as she caught up. "Let's not tell anymore stories that are untrue." She said getting closer to his ear.
"How did you know I was making it up?" He asked with a little awe in his voice.
"A mother always knows. Never lie to us."
"Mommy, you put down Jude, now it is my turn?" Mariana whined again.
"You are too old to be carried. How about if we take a little break instead? We are getting close to the check in station where we are headed, but we are not quite there yet. There are a few benches here. Let's just sit down for a few minutes."
The family all sat down, but in less than five minutes, Callie got back up. "Let's go! That was a good rest, but I really want to make it to the place we are going."
Jesus hopped up with her. "I bet we could still make it to the bottom if we hurry. Please, moms?"
"We have already discussed this. We cannot go that far today. Maybe the two of you should sit back down a little longer. I am not so sure everyone else is ready to go on yet." Stef suggested patting the bench next to her.
Callie rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. Stef raised her eyebrows at her daughter and Callie closed her mouth without saying a word. Callie sat down on a bench as far away from Stef as she could get. Jesus, though, with his currently unmedicated ADHD, missed the cue his mother gave. "Could we at least try? I mean, if you are old and not up for it, maybe Callie and me could just go on without you."
"That would be Callie and I could go on without you…" Lena corrected before standing up and halfway dragging Jesus back to her bench. "Mom has said no. We are on this trip as a family and we will complete this hike together. We will not go to the bottom because it is not possible. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mama." Jesus answered settling in for another minute before he was back up again. "Now are we ready?"
Stef laughed a little. "Sure. Let's go, babies and Mama."
Everyone got up and walked without complaint until they got to a particularly steep part of the path. Jesus immediately found about a three foot cliff to go around it and hopped down. "Come on!" He yelled from the bottom.
Stef and Callie both went down the steep part of the path together to join Jesus. Brandon soon followed.
Marianna looked at the steep trail and then at the drop off before looking back at Lena. "Can we just stay here, Mama? It looks really far."
Jude was also cowering closer to his mama all the time. "No, if all four of them made it down, we can, too. We will just stick together." Lena started for the steep part of the path, but was having to drag both kids. "Or maybe we can figure out something else. Hey, Stef, could you come back up and give us a hand, please?"
"Sure, Babe." She replied before looking at the other three kids. "We are just right there. None of you move from your current spots. Got it?"
"What if another bear comes or a snake or an alien? Can we move then?" Jesus asked excitedly.
"Sure. If you see any of those things, use common sense and move. Otherwise, we will be able to see you and we will know if you stayed or not. I am expecting all of you to stay put."
Stef helped Jude down the path holding on to him all the time, but it soon became apparent that Mariana wasn't going to budge. "How about if I take Mari over to this little edge and then Mom comes and lifts her down from there? Will that work for you?"
Mariana nodded a little and with a little work, she was down with the others. Stef then came back up to help her wife down the path herself. When they got back to the kids, Callie and Jesus were missing.
"Did any of your see where your brother and sister went?" Stef demanded.
"I think they just went a little that way." Brandon said with a shrug. "I was busy seeing how far I could throw a rock into the canyon to notice what happened to them."
"And I told him to not throw rocks. Was I right, Mommy? Did I do the right thing even when Brandon wasn't?" Jude asked tugging on Stef's arm.
"Yes, you were right, Jude. We don't throw rocks because it could hit someone. Right now, though, we have to find Jesus and Callie. Hiking can be very dangerous without an adult."
Mariana's eyes became wide and tears threatened to spill over. "We have to find them before they fall into the canyon or get eaten by bears. Please, Mommy!"
"I am sure they are fine. They are probably just around the corner where we cannot see them right now. When I say to stand still, do you all know what I mean?"
Three little heads nodded. "Babe, save your lecture for the two that left the spot. Obviously these ones don't need it seeing that they are still here and all. We will follow you, but don't worry if we are not as fast. You need to catch up to Callie and Jesus."
XXXX
"I thought you said we were only going a little way, Jesus." Callie commented as they continued walking sort of quickly.
"We are. I think I can see the place Mom said we were eating just over there. That's where we are going. Then, we can get a map of our own and we can go all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. That's where you want to go, isn't it?"
"Yes…. But Mom said no and so did Mama. Remember?" Callie said coming to a stop.
"They thought it wasn't possible, but we will show that it is. Come on, Callie. We need to do this. Just like when Mama said that I couldn't climb the tree in the backyard, but then I showed her that I could."
"You broke your arm when you fell." Callie said squinting a little at the memory. "And then you were grounded to the house for weeks. I am pretty sure that still counts as not being able to do it."
"I only lost my balance when Mama freaked out on me. Besides, this isn't like climbing a tree."
"No, it is a much further fall. I think we should just go back and find our family."
"This way looks like it leads to that building. Remember Mom said that we were going to a ranger station to eat?" Jesus said seeming to not even hear his sister, but continuing to walk just a little.
"Yes. I can't believe that you remember that, but didn't remember she said to use the bathroom before we got into the car…." Callie commented catching up and sort of turning him around to walk back with her.
"Don't tell moms, but I listen more than they think that I do. For instance, last week when Mama got on to all of us for not cleaning our rooms, she was fighting with Mom downstairs. She said that Mom had promised to call someone to fix the washer. Mom said that they agreed to wait. Mama wanted to know what they would be waiting for. Mom agreed to call. It is not that I don't listen. I hear everything. Sometimes I just move too fast to deal with the information that I know. Just like I also heard you say that you want to go back and I know that we are headed that way."
Callie stopped waking and remembered that day. She could not remember the fight. She did, though, know that the washer was fixed right after that. She had just considered that her moms wanted the rooms upstairs cleaned since a repair person was coming. "Hmmm, so you really have like a super power or something? I always sort of thought you had some sort of learning problem." She commented beginning to walk rather quickly considering the consequences.
"Nope. No learning problem. Mama says that I just process differently. Process is Mama's word for dealing with information."
"Mama always says that Mom and I process a little differently, too." Callie said speeding up even more. "We usually have to learn lessons the hard way since we are too strong-willed to listen to anyone else's advice."
They rounded a corner and almost ran into their mother. "Where have you two been?" She asked putting a hand on each one's back.
"Just around the corner." Jesus squeaked out shrinking a little under Stef's gaze. "We just wanted to see if we could find the ranger's station you were telling us about."
"Is that true, Callie?" Stef said knowing that Callie couldn't effectively ever lie to her.
"Well, basically. Jesus wanted to see that, but then I just went with him so he wouldn't go alone. You know it is safer to be together… But then I brought him right back to you. So, you aren't mad, right?" Callie said adding a hopeful look.
"So, you want me to believe that you were not headed for the bottom of the canyon without me?" Stef asked Callie again.
"Jesus said we were just going a little way. When I found out he wanted to go that far, I made him turn around. That's the truth." Stef nodded because she did believe this story.
"When I say to stay exactly where you are, what does that mean to you?" Stef asked rhetorically.
"You said to use common sense. I needed to see. It was very important, Mom. If you were there, you would have understood perfectly." Jesus answered again not catching the cue.
When Lena came into sight, she hurried to catch up with Stef and the two other children. After she hugged both of them she stood up and turned to her wife. "Do you want to head back up to the top? We might have had enough of a hike."
"No, I still really want to show you all the view and they really weren't that far. I say that Jesus and Callie need to hold either my hand or your hand for the rest of this hike. Any more violations and they will miss the event tonight. Does that sound good?"
"It sounds perfect." Lena said giving Stef a little peck on the cheek.
Stef reached for the hands of her two kids, but Callie ran back and grabbed Lena's hand instead. Stef shrugged a little at her wife and daughter and the family started off again. As the ranger station was fairly close as the kids knew, they were there within a rather silent fifteen minutes. The family's first stop was the restroom. "Okay, I need everyone to go use the restroom if you need to and wash your hands. Mama and I are going to fill your water bottles from the water fountain."
As soon as the kids went into the restroom, Lena was digging bottles out from the backpack. "So, where were they?"
"I found them out of breath just a few years from where we met up with you. They were both almost out of breath, I would say they were almost here. Callie insists she told Jesus to turn around and come back. At this point, I just want to enjoy a picnic with my family from one of my favorite spots and then make it safely back up to the top of the canyon. If holding hands it what it takes then that's what we will do. I think they will get it. You saw how quietly they walked with us the rest of the way."
"I saw that something weird is going on with Callie if that's what you mean. She didn't want to sit with you or hold your hand. She was looking uncomfortable when you had your hand on her back." Lena pointed out.
"Neither of us like being in trouble. I will watch for it and try to talk to her later today if I see it again."
The boys came running out. Lena took her turn in the restroom to hurry the girls along a little. As soon as she was done, she took over the boys so that Stef could have a turn. Callie left the restroom immediately when Stef entered which both mothers observed.
Soon the whole family was sitting down near the scenic view by the ranger's station for lunch. Lena handed out the sandwiches while Stef got out the carrot and apples they picked up on the way out of town that morning. The kids picked up their normal chatter. "Are we going to go camping again this summer, Mom?" Brandon asked.
"I think so. We are also still hoping to go somewhere else."
"Disneyland!" Jude shouted making Lena grin a little, but signal for him to keep his voice down a little.
"Can we camp at Disneyland?" Jesus asked.
"I don't think so. I think we will have to stay in a hotel for that one, Bud. We will use a time when I just have a few days off for camping and another time for Disney. It is lucky that you guys get a summer off from school so that we have enough time for two vacations." Stef said to her family.
"Camping isn't a vacation." Callie said under her breath.
"What was that, Cal?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Hmm, well, let's ask those people over there if they will take a picture of us here so we can start back up the trail." Lena said standing up successfully getting the attention back off of Callie who obviously was not only avoiding Stef, but was also getting an attitude.
It took a few takes, but finally everyone was satisfied with the picture. They thanked the photographer, gathered up their things, and started back up to the top. The kids all started off back refreshed, but the way up was harder. Jesus was tugging at Stef's hand to go faster while Jude and Mariana both wanted to be carried. By the time they got back up, it was almost time to leave the Grand Canyon.
"I don't think we made it back to the gift shop!" Mariana said pointing to another little building. "Please, can we go there?"
The moms looked at each other and silently agreed. "Five minutes and we are not buying anything more than five dollars for any of you." Stef said rolling her eyes. "Jesus and Callie still have to stick with us."