Tyler walked into the kitchen and
found his mom putting food and drink in quart mason jars. She only did that for one reason. They must be going on a picnic.
“What
are you doing?” asked Tyler trying to see what was in the mason jars.
“What
does it look like I’m doing?” asked his mom with a slight grin.
“Are
we going on a picnic?” asked Tyler starting to jump with excitement.
“Yes,
we are,” said his mom. “Now go get
ready, and then help your dad with the bicycles.”
Tyler
took off to his room to find his socks and shoes. Once he had those on correctly, he headed out the door to
find his dad. He found him by the
SUV loading the bicycles on the bicycle rack. Tyler quickly ran to get his bike and handed it to his dad.
“Oh
boy!” exclaimed Tyler. “A picnic
and bikes! Where are we going?”
“We’re
going to the state park where we always go,” said his dad as he loaded Tyler’s
bike on the rack.
Just
then, Tyler’s mom came through the front door with the fully loaded picnic basket. “Anyone ready to go on a picnic,” she
called as she headed for the SUV.
“ME!!!”
shouted Tyler as he climbed into the back seat and strapped himself into the
seatbelt.
The
ride to the state park only took 30 minutes, but for Tyler it seemed to take
forever. By the time they pulled
up to the picnic area, he was really hungry. As soon as his dad parked the car, Tyler shot out of the SUV
and started surveying his surroundings.
He knew it would take his mom a few minutes to get everything ready. Before long, he heard his mom call, and
he headed back to the table where his mom had set out their lunch
What
Tyler loved most about his family’s picnics was that they never had the
traditional sandwiches and chips.
Today his mom had packed spaghetti and meatballs, bread, and sweet iced
tea in her mason jars. For dessert
she had banana pudding –Tyler’s absolute favorite.
As
Tyler settled in to devour his spaghetti and meatballs, a bee landed on the
edge of his plate. He shooed it
away, but soon it was joined by several more. Before long there were so many bees buzzing around his
plate, Tyler had to abandon his lunch and run away from the table. He was soon followed by both of his
parents.
“Oh
my!” exclaimed Tyler’s mom. “The
bees aren’t going to let us eat.”
“Why
don’t we just eat in the SUV?” suggested Tyler’s dad.
“Good
idea,” said his mom.
Tyler’s
parents gathered the food shooing the bees away as much as they could. Finally, the three of them settled into
the SUV and continued their meal with the bees angrily buzzing outside the
windows. When everyone finished
dessert, they started unloading the bicycles for a nice ride through the
park.
The
angry bees had put a damper on Tyler’s mood, but now with the prospect of a
bike ride, his mood perked right back up.
For a while, Tyler rode along lost in the thrill of feeling the wind
rush against his skin. Then they
approached a hill, and Tyler stood up on his pedals, determined not to be
outdone by his parents. About
halfway up the hill, his foot slipped on the pedal. The pedal went sideways and Tyler’s foot became entangled
with the pedal. This made the bike
jerk sending Tyler sprawling to the ground. His scraped his knee and elbow bad enough to make them
bleed. His parents came back to
where he lay, and his dad picked him up carrying him back to the SUV. While his mom bandaged his knee and
elbow, his father gathered all the bikes and loaded them back on the SUV. They decided they had had enough fun
for one afternoon and headed back home.
Poor
Tyler was so upset that his wonderful picnic had turned out so disastrous, that
he cried quietly most of the way home.
When they made it back home, Tyler limped into the house, changed into
his pajamas, and plopped on the couch.
His
mother came to him with a bowl of popcorn. She put on his favorite movie, and snuggled with him making
sure to be careful of his wounds.
Before long, Tyler’s mood perked up again. This might not be a picnic, but this was another good thing
he loved about his family.
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