The River 2014

This year will be marked as the year that Sam learned to "do the river."  Once he had a chance the first day to warm up a little bit (literally, the water is a brisk 72ish constantly), he knocked out one milestone after another.  He floated in his own tube - in multiple positions.  He even like floating freely, that is, without an adult's foot or hand guiding his tube, in the open areas.  He LOVED jumping on and off the big raft (RIP big raft, inflatables never do last) and jumping to Uncle Benton until Benton cried uncle.  After some encouragement, he finally put his feet down and realized that he could touch bottom by the dock (ok, so I think he actually hit the bottom once during a jump, he really wouldn't believe us when we told him he could touch).  So touch he did, and then he walked UPSTREAM  to the dock stairs, you know, so he could jump again.  He was so very proud of himself on that one, he went up to the house to get Papa and Daddy so they could watch him do it.  On one of the very last days he finally got brave enough to float short distances downstream with just his lifejacket on.  My prediction is that next year he'll be brave enough for the snorkel (I mean, the water is really brisk, I can see why he doesn't want to stick his face in it). He now knows the difference between Davis Dock, Davis Landing and Leroy Brown Park.  Took me a couple of years to figure that out.

Although her's may not look quite as dramatic, Annabelle marked some milestones this year as well.  After the first run, she graduated from the boat, which means staying completely dry, to sitting on a lap in either a chair or a tube.  She quickly learned to tolerate the water, and to love splashing others that floated by.  She was super excited to find Thomas water shoes in just the right size!  On the last two days we discovered her true happy place on the river: snacking on a long run.  She really didn't love hanging out in the water, but she encouraged Sam and participated in some jumping rounds every once in awhile.

She also found a happy place on the swing.  The ropes on this thing are so long that the arc is one of the biggest I've every experienced on a swing.  It really feels like you're flying.  For the girl who has had to be forcefully removed from playground swings since infancy, this was pure bliss.

Poor girl was not so happy when we set off the fireworks leftover from fourth of July.  Luckily for her, Grammy was willing to hang inside with her.  Mommy wasn't.  But you know, when your nephew happens to be born while you're in the middle of no where with a stash of fireworks on hand, sometimes you just gotta do, in spite of your child's fears.

The kids loved playing with all the baskets of toys that have probably been in that house for 30+ years.  The loved sitting at the counter for breakfast and playing with their energetic aunt and uncle.
 

I blame both of them for popping the big raft.  But honestly, the hysterical laughs and joy that came with the half hour of insane bouncing, jumping and splashing was worth it.  We were all having a blast with them.  The took golf cart rides with everyone and gained and appreciation for throwing rocks in the river from Davis Landing.  Sam can now recognize the dump after a couple of trash runs.

We all ate too much food.  I'm still running off the blissful indulgence that was the week at the river.

Unfortunately Chris worked a lot on this trip.  I mean, a lot.  Like, he might not need to take any vacation days if you add up all the hours.  At first I was pretty frustrated with him, thinking that he should have worked ahead, shouldn't be prioritizing work over vaca, etc.  But by the middle of the week I just felt bad for him - and then I felt bad for being frustrated.  Poor guy was waking up at 3 or 4 am to get work done and then have family time, by the end of the week even that wasn't cutting it.  Stupid deadlines.

And that is the reason that we decided to stay 2 days longer than everyone else.  The rest of the fam left for Sarasota when we had to vacate the rental, but we stayed in Dave and Debbie's place for an extra two nights.  I am so glad that we did.  FINALLY Chris was able to get a few work-free days to relax and enjoy being at his favorite place.  And it was so WONDERFUL to be in such a relaxing place as just our little foursome.  On Sunday morning we took a long run - we had not seen the river so empty all week.  We did not see another tuber, boat or swimmer the entire run.  It was us, the birds and the turtles and all of the lovely river sounds.  We set ourselves up as a little flotilla, all linked up together.  As we floated by the rental house the woman sitting on the dock told us we looked like a picture postcard floating by.  It really felt almost perfect.  But no cameras on our float, so that one will live in my memory!