Rose Gardens, Human Rights Memorial, & the Greenbelt

So today was a disaster. Not all of it, just the last part. At the worst of it, both kids were bawling their heads off as a trolley full of strangers watched me walk away all upset.

The day started out great. The plan was to go to Julia Davis Park, enjoy the rose gardens and the greenbelt and then take a ride on the Boise Tour Train. Sounds fun and simple enough right? Well sometimes things don't go well, no matter how great the plan is.

We drove to Julia Davis park and pulled up to the place where, in the past, you bought your ticket for the Train. It was no longer open. Ok, now what? We drove around the park and saw a trolley bus. I asked the driver what happened to the Train and he said it was out of service. That's okay. I went ahead and bought tickets for the 1:00pm tour. It was 11:00 am and we had two hours to explore the park before our train, I mean, our trolley tour. Great.

We parked the car by the rose gardens and started there. We saw many different rose varieties and enjoyed smelling them, collecting petals that had fallen to the ground, and taking pictures.

Then we walked the short distance to the infamous greenbelt and headed west. It's always fun to ride your bikes on the greenbelt if you have a way to get them there. My best memories as a kids are of all the times we loaded up our bikes and rode all over the greenbelt--over bridges, through tunnels and puddles. I can still hear the tires go 'bumpity bump' over the wooden lookouts.

After a short distance, we found the Human

Rights Memorial. I enjoyed reading the quotes and my kids had fun turning the handle of the speaking thing and looking at the water.

Then we walked on a bridge over the Boise river and through another tunnel. We walked east toward the BSU campus. When I told my daughter that we were going to be walking past buildings from "Mommy's college" she said, "Oh, the bowling one?" Yes, the bowling one. Didn't ya all know that I went to bowling college and majored in bowling.

(There's a bowling alley in the SUB that we like to go to because it's always been smoke free. And when we've gone bowling there, I've told them that this was mommy's college. Funny huh.)

As we walked along the greenbelt we saw a spot for the kids to wade in the river. Soon we had our shoes off and my son was pulling off his diaper. After we had splashed around the

water for a few minutes, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Actually, I'd been holding it since morning and I just couldn't hold it anymore. The cold, river water didn't help things either. I just wished that I could leave the kids, run and find a bathroom and be right back. But no, that's what you get when you're the only adult. So I said," Okay kids, I know that we just got here, but I need you to get out of the water that is so refreshing and you're having so much fun playing in, put your clothes and shoes back on and come on because I'm about to pee my pants."

After we make it to the bathroom, we hurry over to the trolley where everyone that was waiting in line has just boarded. It's 12:50 and we made it. I ask the driver who is standing outside the trolley if there's enough room for us and he says yes. So we get on the trolley and try to sit down and my son starts throwing a big tantrum. I can't get him to sit down. He keeps yelling, "I don't want to. I don't want to." I am already aware that we are the only family on the trolley and everyone else aboard are touristy adults. I'm sure they are staring at us but I don't look up. I try to reassure the kid that it's going to be really fun. "No, I can't. I don't want to." There's no reasoning with that. And once he gets something in his head you can't talk him out of him. I want to stop embarrassing myself so we get off the bus, I mean trolley.

I explain to the driver that my son was expecting a train ride and he's tired and I don't think he's going to sit down. Could I please have my money back? What do you think he said? I was completely expecting a yes, please try it again some other time. But no, he said no. I couldn't believe it. "Why?" I asked.

Because he had turned people away.

"What people?" I said. " I don't see any people."

"All the people that called for a reservation."

"A what?"

I wasn't buying it.

I walked away and said to my daughter, loud enough for him to hear, "He must not have children, otherwise he would understand that they are totally unpredictable. Come on, lets go."

Everyone watched us walk away and I was pretty embarrassed. The boy was still crying, now he was crying because he wanted to go back. He always does this. Always.

So I guess if I have any advice it would be to go to the bathroom before you go to the greenbelt and skip the Boise Tour "Train."