Bye-bye School Break

On Sunday, the day before I started school again, we took the 2 kids who weren't off with friends or work and went on a canoe trip. Our area is so full of beautiful rivers and lakes that we have no excuse for not taking advantage of the recharging boost that a relaxing day on the water provides. 

This guy sat on
my hat for 5
minutes.

Look closely--he's smiling.
Cuz that's not creepy at all.

Since the girls both needed to get used to maneurvering their little canoe, we tied them to the back of ours and pulled them in the beginning. They had to figure out how to work as a team, something siblings don't always accomplish, and Little Blondie needed a wee bit of encouragement to use her muscles and pay attention to which side she was paddling on. It was both comical and frustrating to watch. 

Smiling Little Blondie.

Smiling Ginger Girl.

The view on the river was beautiful.

"Okay, dear, try to
keep that canoe
you're paddling..."

"... to under
55, okay?"

I love how old bridges look.
They tend to remind me of Beetlejuice though. 

I pointed to a log barely poking up out of the water and said, "Shh, girls. Crocodile." Every once in a while I would point out another one just peeking up at us or to one they just missed that went under the water or to the brush and tell them to be quiet because that's where the mamas go with their babies. You don't want to make a lot of noise when a mama crocodile is watching over her babies, you know.  

It's a sneaky way to get kids to hush for a wee bit, but it works. This mama ain't got no problem doin' whatever it takes to get peace and quiet. 

Halfway through,
we saw this sign put out
by one of the home owners. 

Worked perfectly in my
favor. 

We disconnected the 2 canoes before one of the rapids because we would have surely tipped us all trying to go over it all together. 

Paddled the 2 of us across first and whadda ya know? 

"You go get the girls..."

"...I'm not goin' anywhere."

Hubby retrieved the girls and eased them right over the rocks by walking their canoe. 

"Mom! Are you stuck??"

When the water was calm again, we untied the girls and let them go next to us to paddle themselves. They were doing great, working together, figuring out how to actually make the boat move. 

We were having fun, we were almost to the end. At some point, somehow, hubby and I ended up sitting facing each other in the canoe. The girls were in their canoe next to us, we were going slow, enjoying the scenery. I hear a rushing sound and look behind hubby to see we are taking on a  butt boat load of water. "Uh...uh..." was all I managed to get out while pointing at him. Of all the times for me to not have words, that was not an appreciated one. He's all, "What's wrong?" 

Hubby turned to look just as the back end of the canoe went completely under. I tried to stand up and step out of the boat but my foot got stuck. 

Okay, to be perfectly honest, I was trying to keep my flip flops on. I got these flip flops at Disney Land a few months ago and they have Mickey face gems around them. They're awesome. And you don't understand--they're the only flip flops I have ever found that I can wear because they don't have latex in them. They're special, yo. If I slipped my feet out of them, they'd be gone down the river, like Little Blondie's red shorts  that I had told her to leave on , never to be seen again.

My persistence to not lose my foot grip on my very special, latex-free, Mickey Mouse flip flops, caused me to tip backward. Tip is too graceful of a word for what I did. Feet stuck to bottom of the boat, arms flailing at nothing, body completely straight, going butt first into the water. Hubby lunged for my chest where my phone was tucked away. He missed. 

I was able to quickly pull the phone out and held it above my head--yay for long ape arms--just as I hit the water and went completely under. The whole 3 feet under. He saved the very expensive phone from being immersed. And my sunglasses and hat never came off my head. Win win.

The girls were hysterically laughing as I stood up. I'm pretty sure at least one of them wet their pants from laughing so hard. "Mom, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" I looked at the girls holding their sides and laughing in their boat. I gave Ginger Girl a look. "The funniest thing you've ever seen is your mother going under water?" 

They both gasped for air while laughing, "He reached for your boob! And then grabbed the phone instead of helping you!!"  

I guess when you see it from that point of view, it really is the funniest thing you've ever seen. We explained that he wasn't trying to save just my boob and that I actually wanted him to grab the phone instead of me. "That phone is worth more than I am, girls." They disagreed. Good girls.

Uh...yeah, that's our
boat.

In my defense, I knew the water was so shallow and this was supposed to be a relaxing trip, not a wild ride, so if we did tip over, my phone would be in little danger of going completely under. Also, my phone does have several waterproof sealed layers on it, but I didn't want to test them out by not at least trying to prevent it from going under. Also again, I need to take pictures; it's who I am. No judgment.

3 1/2 hours, a pair of missing shorts, no missing flip flops, some bumps and bruises, a dry phone (that will stay home next time), and a lot of fresh air and sun later...we survived. It was a great way to end my school break.