Let the Current Take You Away

The first leg of our journey west took us to the Ozarks in Missouri. You know, because you should always go south to get west. How's that for logic?

How about if I tell you that Grandma and Grandpa live in the Ozarks? Now does it seem more logical? Of course!

One of the things we wanted to do while we were here is to canoe down the Current River. Evidently we weren't the only ones who picked a random Monday in July to go canoeing.

There was plenty of time on our 8-mile float where our party was the only other people we could see.

There was plenty of time for sitting at the water's edge and splashing looking at rocks and tasting them, if you were a certain 14-month-old. Josiah had a lot of fun. We had him in a backpack with a stand on it and just plunked him in the middle of our canoe! He took a nap for awhile and so many people commented on how cool it was that he had such a safe, comfortable place to ride! 

I think Jonathan would have preferred to swim down the river! He spent as much time as he could swimming and floating and splashing. The life jacket he was wearing might have had something to do with it.

Life jacket or no, Jared was content to get wet below the knee. He still had tons of fun and was just as excited as his big brother.

Like the rest of this summer, this day was 100 degrees in the shade! I kept splashing water on myself to stay cool. I unfortunately left the sunscreen in the car, as well as the diapers! Good thing his swim suit was supposed to be wet! (Don't tell anybody!)

Floating 8 miles down stream took a good portion of the day, especially when we stopped every hour or so to swim, splash, suck on rocks, eat lunch and go fishing--at least that's what my husband did. But thems was all small ones. (Ok, Joycie, I think you're the only one who will get that one!)

We had a great day floating, swimming and enjoying being outside.

Jonathan went in Grandma & Grandpa's canoe most of the way.

If you notice in the left of this picture, there are some rafters, or "floaters" as they're called. These seemed to be gangs of college-aged kids, each with his own float, sometimes tied up with friends, just drifting down the river. Other than the lingering smell of cigarettes and the foul language they used in front of my kids, that sounds like a fun thing to do in the summer!

There's the cutest fish in the river! Love that little boy!

Have you had any fun outings like this yet this summer? You should!

It's worth the sunburn!