Yesterday, I took the girls to the end of summer Mom's playgroup activity at the lake. This lake is at the church-owned camp up in Raymond. Compared to the last lake I let the girls swim in, this was very clean and nice. The only unfortunate part about the location was the stiff wind that came rushing at us. It turned out that the water was warmer than the air though and one by one the girls got in. Bethany, being the boldest, was the first to rush in. Malia wasn't too sure that it was swimming weather and hung out on the dock a little while until she was convinced that she'd be warmer in the water. Jessi was raring to go as soon as I got her over-clothes off and Kaitlyn had a little problem when we couldn't find her swim suit in the bag. Her solution of just going naked would have been just fine in her birth place but not in conservative New Hampshire. I convinced her to put on a swim diaper even though she doesn't wear diapers anymore. I wasn't planning to go in all the way, just wade up to my knees where Jessica was, just to keep her upright.
I had my swimsuit in my bag in case I changed my mind but the weather at the time hadn't done anything to increase my desire to get wet. This all changed when Jessi decided that wading in the shallows wasn't enough excitement for her. Before I realized what she was doing, she was up on the dock and walking right off into deeper water. I fished her out of the waist deep water with me all wet and she unfazed as she bolted for the dock again. After preventing a replay, I decided that my little fearless one got to wear life jacket for the remainder of the activity.
The life jacket came in handy when we went out in a canoe a little while later. Bethany and I rowed while Kaitlyn and Jessi sat in the bottom of the boat between my legs. We didn't go very far out. I had enough trouble getting Bethany to paddle with me and not against me. The last thing I needed was to be in the middle of the lake with an inexperienced rower behind me. Jessica found it fascinating to hear me chanting, "In, Back, In, Back," and even tried to join in a couple times. I am just glad she didn't try to jump ship.
Later, Bethany decided to try to solo on a little kayak. She stayed within the boundaries of the dock, just in case I had to go rescue her. She didn't need it though. She did great. After a little nervous parts at the beginning, she got the hang of paddling and was turning circles in the swimming area.
We ended the activity with popsicles and ice cream (the perfect thing on a breezy, somewhat chilly day). I am a little sore in my shoulders but have recovered pretty well from all the excitement.
I had my swimsuit in my bag in case I changed my mind but the weather at the time hadn't done anything to increase my desire to get wet. This all changed when Jessi decided that wading in the shallows wasn't enough excitement for her. Before I realized what she was doing, she was up on the dock and walking right off into deeper water. I fished her out of the waist deep water with me all wet and she unfazed as she bolted for the dock again. After preventing a replay, I decided that my little fearless one got to wear life jacket for the remainder of the activity.
The life jacket came in handy when we went out in a canoe a little while later. Bethany and I rowed while Kaitlyn and Jessi sat in the bottom of the boat between my legs. We didn't go very far out. I had enough trouble getting Bethany to paddle with me and not against me. The last thing I needed was to be in the middle of the lake with an inexperienced rower behind me. Jessica found it fascinating to hear me chanting, "In, Back, In, Back," and even tried to join in a couple times. I am just glad she didn't try to jump ship.
Later, Bethany decided to try to solo on a little kayak. She stayed within the boundaries of the dock, just in case I had to go rescue her. She didn't need it though. She did great. After a little nervous parts at the beginning, she got the hang of paddling and was turning circles in the swimming area.
We ended the activity with popsicles and ice cream (the perfect thing on a breezy, somewhat chilly day). I am a little sore in my shoulders but have recovered pretty well from all the excitement.
Kaitlyn, Jessi, Bethany and I in a canoe about to depart into open water.
1 comment:
Meg, What a good writer you are! Your day at the lake is well documented. This is the kind of blog post Mom and I would like to do (photos and text) if we could learn to do it in less than six hours. Maybe we could get a lesson in New Hampshire.
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