Four Little Life Vests

Danny and I took the kids for a boat ride.  Now the kids have only had one other boat experience before this one.  Actually, I take that back.  The babies have never before been on a boat. This was their maiden  voyage.  

The girls, however, have been on the harbor cruise in San Diego.  The harbor cruise is basically a house floating on the water, which, from the girls' perspective, is sort of lame.  They could barely see the water, people were everywhere, and they definitely didn't feel any rolling or boat swaying.  They were kind of disappointed with that boating adventure.   

So during our stay in the mountains, Danny and I decided to give them a simpler, more basic watercraft experience.

Ahhhhh. The peace and serenity of the open water took us back to simpler times.  Times when kids didn't scream when parents wrenched them into life vests.  To times when a kid was happy just gazing out across the water.  And finally, it took us back to times when six people in a tiny motor boat sounded absolutely wonderful.  

Not really.  It was a typical Walker family event.  Little G looks bored, but she really enjoyed hanging her little hand over the side of the boat (with mom's hand firmly gripping her life vest's strap) to drag her fingers through the water.

The girls truly enjoyed the boat ride.  I truly enjoyed the gray day.  It had rained before we took the little boat out, and the sky was overcast and marvelous for taking pictures.

J.D. remained calm and happy for a short time.  He quickly realized that he was not belted into the boat, and proceeded to attempt escape at every opportunity.  Luckily, I kept my hand gripped on his life vest, and my little man didn't come close to diving into the chilly water.  Is it odd that I am so proud of that?  

Boats are rented by the day, but 45 minutes of boating was plenty for the Walkers!  After we finished up the boat ride, I made the kids walk the plank!  The gang plank up to the dock, that is.  

"Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry..."  Sorry, a few remnants of Oklahoma! will always remain at the front of my brain.  Thanks mom and dad.  Anyway, the ducks and geese were hungry, but not too aggressive.  

Except this guy.  He had a real attitude!  Just kidding, he was great.  No nips or squawks or flapping of wings, just a handful of kids feeding crackers to some fat geese.