canoeing in december

Living in California does have it's perks . . . though I miss many aspects of the Midwest, I do not miss the weather there. I much prefer California's mild seasons. And I am a short 45-minute drive from the snow if I feel I must see it again. (And of course I go, I have kids to take there!)

This past week my husband bought himself a canoe for his birthday (off of Craiglist of course). Apparently the new comfy, cozy, down pillow I bought for him was not exciting enough. : ) Anyway, we had to go try it out this weekend. It was a beautiful morning at 8:30am when we loaded up . . . though a bit foggy.

This is my son throwing himself on the dock because he did not want this big, bulky, yellow thing wrapped around him. I, of course, had to snap a picture . . . hopefully you do not think I'm a horrible mother. I quickly picked him up after I snapped the shot. I just like to document the good, bad and ugly--it's real life, is it not? After we got him in the canoe he calmed right down and began to enjoy this new adventure . . . for about 10 minutes that is. After he realized he still had his life jacket on he began saying, "On, on, on, on, on . . . " over and over again. "On" is his latest new word. He says it when he brings us his jacket or his shoes or when he wants a Baby Einstein video on. What he doesn't realize is that "on" does not mean "off." He'll figure it out eventually. After five minutes of listening to "On!" we came to shore and Tim dropped us off before going out again.

We went on a little stroll and found  a huge pile of rocks . . . this is where we hung out for quite some time while he picked up rocks and threw them down. Such a boy! Doesn't he look so happy to be out of the life jacket? That's him saying, "Thanks mom for bringing me here, I like you afterall."

Hope you have a great start to your week! Stop back tomorrow for an ELLA giveaway!