Out for a Family Trip

One of the things I haven't even blogged about yet... my gosh... is Adam's canoe...!  Quickly, I'll say that after two years, he finished his canoe and we launched it for the first time on June 15, 2010.  (Exactly two years after he physically started the project.)

 

In July, Adam and I took the canoe on an overnight trip on the Wisconsin River... I hope to blog about that yet.

 

Since, Adam has taken the canoe out with his friend, Roger, and we thought yesterday would be an excellent time to take it out again.

 

We take the canoe out to the water off of Robert's Creek (park off of G-28 near Pella), where there is a "no wake" rule and boats aren't allowed to motor faster than 3 mph.  Thank goodness!

 

We have taken the whole family (Adam, me, and the girls) one other time before, and we weren't out very long... it was really hard to get the girls to "share" space in the middle of the canoe, and sadly the front person was of no help to the back person in taking care of their needs.  So, yesterday we split the girls up... Raven in the front with mom, Julia in the back with dad. 

 

From what I could tell, Julia did really well listening to dad... but... well, Raven... she sounded as though she were a thousand geese descending upon the canoe and attempting to wreck havoc.  Our trip yesterday was truly a workout of the body (it took a lot out of both of us to keep the boat balanced due to the weight distribution and Raven's continued attempts to stand up and flop around and and and... yah, she was wild) and the nerves (imagine a flock of geese descending on you... the sound is... well... Raven emulates the sound very well).  Raven's main gripe was that she wasn't allowed to stand up.

We were out for about an hour before we gave up and got out of the water... the second Raven was out, she was happy as a clam.  Oh, well!  I think next time we'll go out for a long lunch, just the two of us.

 

But, Julia had a blast, and she threw rocks in at the waters edge (yes, while wearing her life vest) while Adam investigated a leak in our "dry port"... yah, it ain't so dry.  (Due to the "dry port" leak in late July, Adam's iPhone 3 DIED, and now he is the proud owner of an iPhone 4.  Another story afoot......)

 

All in all we had a good time despite the noise.  We hope you enjoy the pictures!

 

Pic #1: Adam and the girls; getting ready to launch!

Pics #2 & 3: Raven's hair after her massive cry fest... the tears gave her hair a bit of a wave

Pic #4: Julia throwing rocks

Pics #5, 6, 7, & 8: Adam filling his canoe with water; showing how it still "floats" when water is in it