It Seemed Like a Good Idea

What seemed like a good idea, you ask? Well, I'll tell you: heading over to the river and loading four kids and only two adults into a canoe. Oh, and three of the kids are boys who don't seem to understand how easily they could fall into the river if they're running, climbing, and jumping around in the canoe. Or how easily they could fall into the river if they're sitting on the side of the canoe. Or how easily they could tip the canoe over if they all hang over the same side of the canoe at the same time. Add to that triple-threat the hysteria the boys' mother experiences every time her kids are around water, and well, you can imagine how much fun I had.

I was trying to figure out why I get so irrational around water, and I think my fear comes from 20 years ago when my best friend's 5-year-old brother drowned, which was horrible and traumatic. So please forgive me for peppering this otherwise entertaining video with killjoy comments like, "Chris, are you helping me balance at all?" Yep, I was that delightful all afternoon.

The most hilarious part of the trip happened just before I started filming; the duck tried to fly into the canoe to get more pretzels and all four kids screamed and jumped to the other side of the canoe all at once. We almost died, but it was really funny anyway.
Cottonwood fluff: completely obnoxious in my garage; kind of pretty on the river. It looked almost like it had snowed in the middle of summer.Next time I think Chris and I will paddle the river alone without the kids so I can relax. But once the boys are old enough to behave themselves and not shave 15 years off my life, I think canoeing on the river is something we will enjoy doing together quite often. If you live around here, you should definitely check it out.