canoeing

grandma took ava on her first canoe ride today. the expedition was led by my mom's friend howie, who is an expert not only in all-things-outdoors, but in dragging along small children for the ride. howie has two grandchildren of his own (7yrs and 4 yrs) and outfitted his kayak with a special "outrigger" kids kayak for his grandkids to ride along in. for canoeing, howie supplies those small fold-up canvas camping chairs for the kids to sit in. genius - i tell you! when i was a kid, i distinctly remember being made to sit on the cold, wet bottom of the canoe, and having my mother continually drip water on me from her paddle.

at first, ava wasn't too keen on her lifejacket. then we discovered that it has a whistle tied on to it, and life was good again (bless you mr. clever lifejacket manufacturer). once we set off in the canoe, ava was great. i thought for sure she'd try to climb out of the canoe, but 95% of the time she sat in her little chair and took in the scenery perfectly peacefully.