How fun is it to share what you love with your kids?! I can tell you: VERY! I started paddling again last year and have had a blast taking the kids along in our canoe. When I saw this junior size sit-0n-top kayak at Academy, I thought, "Wow, they could actually go kayaking with me now, too!" The tame waters around here would actually be a great place for them to learn to paddle, too.
We decided that Friday would be the maiden voyage and headed out - Isaac, Julia and I. They were excited, but I didn't know how they would do when they actually got it on the water. Boy was I surprised when we got it in the river. I put both boats on the bank and clipped them into their lifevests. I zipped up my vest and turned around expecting to spend the next half-hour helping them learn the ropes - they were already 30 yards up the river and Isaac was paddling like he'd always done it! Julia was just about as natural at it, too, when it came her turn to paddle. So much for lessons!
We headed out up river - the levels were so low that there was almost no current to paddle against. We explored as far as we could before turning around and heading back to the park area. They did awesome, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time out paddling with my kiddos. I wouldn't wish away any of these precious moments with my kids, but I relish the thought of getting out with them as they get older and taking on more and more challenging waters. So much fun now and to come!
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If Pappaw Chatham could only see this, he'd be so proud. He loved to canoe, and I went with him many times. He enjoyed making the hair on the back of my neck stand up with some of his antics, like speeding up so we could shoot the dam just ahead. There was a chunk out of the dam concrete the shape of a V. He used to shoot it by himself all the time. I didn't know what to expect the first time. He would stand up in the canoe until the last moment so he could see exactly where the slot was and then tell me to start paddling as fast as I could. I did out of shear fear.
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