Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Well, Brian would be sure to correct me that we were not rowing today, we were paddling. Whatever, Mr. outdoorsy know-it-all. :-D

Anyway, we took both the kids canoeing today on a creek in the Pine Barrens with some other families from church. The last time we tried to canoe for the day with Abby, she was about 10 months old, and it was a miserable disaster! Today, however, she had a fantastic time! She "paddled" with her golf club, played with buckets of water, sat in her camp chair in the boat, and was pleasant all day long, even without a nap!

We expected Joshua to be more of a challenge, since is not as good about missing a nap, and this was his first time in a canoe. He was tired by the time we got started, and he was really not a fan of the life jacket. I can't say I blame him. Does this look comfortable to you?

Joshua cried and fussed for a good bit of our day, but we just didn't feel right about taking off his life jacket in deep water. So, we made the poor little guy deal with it...until he finally fell asleep!

He slept in the bottom of the boat for about 45 minutes or so, almost until we were done with the trip.

Abby did much better this time with her new life vest.

Joshua did have a few good moments during the trip. We at least got a few smiles!


The creek was beautiful. It is really encouraging to find some great places to be outdoors in NJ. We thought that might be hard to find here, but things are looking up!

Our happy boy up from his nap and enjoying our lunch break.

Having a great day as a family.

It was quite a drive out to the put-in. On the way back, Brian was having maybe a little too much fun making the kids laugh by bumping down the road.

It was a great day, the kids are in bed, and we are exhausted! Can't wait to do it again. :-)