StarGirl and I went canoeing on the Bushkill River on Mother’s Day as part of an effort to get StarGirl, NeutronLad and our friends Jess and Dylan’s two-year-old twins used to the idea of being in a boat. We started off putting all four kids in the boat, and then Sue and Jess dragged them up and down the brook for a while (exceedingly cold work, given that it was only about 70 degrees out, the water was far colder, and they were standing in it). Once the little kids had had their full of the water, I took Jordie out in the (slightly) deeper water. The water was about two feet deep in this picture, giving us just enough clearance to go paddling.
The dent you see in the side of the canoe is not from me; rather it’s a legacy of a disastrous family canoeing trip on the Delaware River when I was a kid that ended with said canoe colliding with a rather rock after our first encounter with rapids. The canoe is in good shape in spite of its Titanic moment, and Sue and I have had it out on the Delaware a bunch of times, though not much since the kids were born.
We’re looking to change that now that StarGirl’s five, and better able to handle herself on the water. She did really well on Sunday, listening to my instructions and not rocking the boat. With any luck, we’ll get to take the canoe out again later this summer.