Sorry about not getting a post done last night. We were really tired after a fun-filled day out on the water.
We started our day, yesterday, by getting dressed and coated up in nasty sun-screen. Ate some leftover muffins in our hotel room and then set off. Our first stop was by the canoe rental to pick out life-jackets for everyone. With all of us we probably ended up with one of each size they had. LOL! Then we loaded back up and drove the van to our take out point at the end. We were then shuttled to our starting point. Twisting back through the hills on gravel roads. So pretty!
It was about 11:15am when we actually set out on the water. For our family we got three canoes. Daddy, Bekah, Gabriel and Nehemiah were in one, Momma, Grace and Ethan in another and Noah, Eman and me took up the last one. That balance seem to work really well! Nehemiah was so cute just laid back in the middle of his ’ship’. He kept asking when we were going to ride in our ’ships’. LOL! Probably to him a canoe looked more like a ship anyway. J
You were offered either the 4, 6 or 10 mile float. We choose the ten mile and enjoyed it thoroughly! Just taking our time. Usually in the summertime the river is down pretty low and sometimes they won’t let anyone out on the river because you would just drag bottom. This summer though, they’ve had quite a bit of rain and so the river was unusually high and had a nice current. That was such a blessing! Every once in a while we would come to small rapids and those were always fun.
Here are some favorite quotes of the day from our little boys: We are paddling down the river, passing by a rocky shoreline where some other canoers had stopped to swim. Noah and I hear Nehemiah yell out loudly from his canoe, “Hey boys!!!! Don’t wook at dose people over dere!” I’m thankful he was watching out for his brothers, but we are going to have to instruct on how you let them know. LOL! Later in the day I overheard Gabriel say as we were going along, “It’s like we’re going down a river with naked savages on the sides!” Oh boy, I’m glad that one wasn’t overheard. J
The Buffalo River.
All set to go.
Nehemiah in his ’ship’.
It was breathtaking the whole way. Amazing cliffs that are so neat to look at through a Biblical worldview.
There are Momma, Ethan and Grace.
This picture doesn’t do the size of this thing justice.
Noah, Eman and me taking it in.
Beautiful weather.
Cruisin’ along.
So many rocks on the bottom and shore, different from our sand and clay.
Taking up the rear.
Whee…
Stopped to wade a bit.
A weird rock Noah found.
The cool water felt really good!
Our view.
Boys go deep.
Our nice white legs…
Art.
A man was catching his bait then headed out to fish for catfish. He said when the water was muddy was the best time.
Look what Daddy found.
Something’s after me… LOL!
Lunch break.
Chowin’ down.
Our life jackets were nice cushions to sit on in the shade.
Eating with your family viewing mountains off in the distance= contentment.
We thought that a flooded bank was an unusual place for a cactus to grow.
Took the GPS along on our journey. I didn’t take my precious camera with me this time. But we just took Bekah’s that fit in the cooler. We saw some other people flip in their canoe. Thank the Lord we didn’t experience that!
We skipped rocks over to the other side.
Going swimming.
Grace.
Boy heaven.
Camo man.
Daddy.
Gettin’ ready to head back out on the water.
All tuckered out. This was Nehemiah’s position for the last hour. Cutie!
Load ‘em up.
Relaxing back at our hotel. The boys are telling stories to each other.
Father/Daughter laptops.
Noah.
Bekah and Momma playing around with the camera.
So I’m writing this in the car as we’re on the way to Branson. Tonight the conference starts.
