Well, at least the kids can’t say we never take them anywhere. Yesterday morning we decided to drive up to Salmon Arm to check out a mini golf course that was supposed to be interesting; the place also had go-karts, so we thought we might try those too. Salmon Arm is an hour and a half from here, so we figured we’d be home by early afternoon. (Still, I was wise enough to pack the boys’ backpacks with a change of clothes, their iPods and some snacks…cause hey, you never know.)

You can probably guess where this is leading.

We did the mini golf, which had some neat decor — everything from Stonehenge to miniature pyramids. Justin looked at the model of Mount Rushmore and remarked, “Hey, that looks like Abraham Lincoln.” Then he took another look and added, “And that one is Thomas Jefferson.” A couple seconds later he told us it was in South Dakota. I was standing there with my mouth open, stunned, cause I have actually been to Mount Rushmore and still couldn’t tell you which faces are on the thing. We’re guessing Justin read about it in his current favorite book, Over 1000 Fascinating Facts. That kid needs to get back to school.

After mini golf we had to wait around almost half an hour (which, with a hyperactive four-year-old, felt more like half a lifetime) for our turn on the go-karts. The ones we did in Penticton were well set up for families, and we all remembered them as being a lot of fun, but these were slightly different. Brayden had to sit in my lap rather than in a seat beside me, so I could barely see where I was going, plus I got some sunscreen in my eye just as we started driving, so my eyes kept watering and I had no way to wipe them. Oh, well. I’m pretty sure the boys enjoyed it, so that’s all that really matters.

On the drive up we’d noticed some billboards advertising the Enchanted Forest, a tourist attraction between Sicamous and Revelstoke that we’ve driven by several times but never stopped at. It was still early in the day, and it was only an hour from Salmon Arm, so we decided to go for it. We were planning to stop for lunch in Sicamous, but we didn’t really see anywhere to eat there besides an A&W (not our favorite place), so we opted to keep going. We ended up going all the way to Revelstoke, which added an unnecessary 65 km or so — it’s a good thing our kids like to travel. They never whined about being stuck in the van or complained that it was an hour past their lunchtime, so kudos to them.

And it was all worth it when we got into the Enchanted Forest. The place is full of fairy tale creatures and their almost-life-size houses, most of which the kids could go into and explore. We started in a huge castle that had a wizard, a pillory, the magic mirror from Snow White (which our kids only know from Shrek, sadly) and even a dungeon. Next up were each of the Three Little Pigs’ houses with the Big Bad Wolf standing by. The giant shoe house (from The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe) even included a slide. There was an enormous treehouse, a pirate ship with Captain Hook (it also had a donkey on deck, which had Brayden asking where Shrek was), Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother’s house, Winnie the Pooh’s abode…the list goes on. It was very cool for all of us.

Next door to the Enchanted Forest is SkyTrek Adventure Park, which had one feature that looked amazing: a kids’ jungle gym, basically an elaborate obstacle course. (Just as an aside…why are the coolest outdoor adventure things in this province always owned and operated by Australians?) The kids found it pretty challenging at first but then really seemed to get into it — Justin even did the zip line at the end without the slightest hesitation. Brayden struggled with that a bit but did eventually figure it out. The whole thing was great for Justin’s motor skills and a lot of fun for both kids. Awesome.

I think that’s enough of the road trips for a while…