Summer!

The forecast was for upper 80's and lots of sun today, so we put in the effort to load up the car with the canoe and head out to the St. Croix. Usually the logistics of such a trip kind of sours me before we even start, but I went in with a good attitude today. And it was so worth it. I'd do it again tomorrow if the weather was right. We put in at Osceola and within 5o yards Eli was unable to resist the pull of the river- he jumped right over the side of the canoe and into the lovely waters of the Croix. It was the perfect temperature- refreshingly cool, but not cold. The water fluctuated from ankle deep to way over their heads and they delighted in it all. They donned their PFD's as diapers (have you ever tried it? It is the best) and floated behind the canoe, hanging on to ropes. When it got too shallow they would bound behind us in wide-legged straddling lopes, diaper lifejackets slowing them down...then they would topple over a dropoff and shout with glee while they frantically groped for the trailing ropes. Jon and I tried our best to ditch them, but they were wily. Raptors were circling endlessly overhead and we even saw an airplane release a glider it had been towing. Theo had to remind me that our national bird is a bald eagle, not a 'bald-headed eagle' as I called out when one swooped by. We stopped at several sandbars and tried to catch minnows darting through the shallows. Ok, Jon did that with the boys while I laid back in the stern, trailing my hands in the cool water -thinking about how great it is to have nothing else to do all day but mosey downstream. And to think that this little paradise is less than one hour from our house. The pictures are of sandbar exploration- I like that I seem to have captured Theo walking on water.