Daddy's Whitewater Canoeing Trip

This past weekend Daddy and 15 of his co-workers went for a wild weekend on the Madawaska river. Despite the rain on Friday, the mosquitoes all weekend and the 4 times that he was tossed from the canoe, it was a great time. The food was out-of-this-world, the company was fantastic, the guides were outstanding and the adrenaline rushes were ones to remember. It was perhaps the most fun that I've had outdoors in years and I'm looking forward to making these kind of memories with my boys.
Here are a few shots of our accomodations for the weekend -

and a few of the white water that we experienced

an action shot of Scott and I on the water (thanks so much to Scott for organizing the weekend and bringing so many supplies and cool stuff to make the weekend unforgettable)

and finally a few shots of the group

On Friday we did some flat water work to get our skills up to speed.
On Saturday we hit the first rapids and managed to keep our canoe free from damage, though we did manage to bail once.
On Sunday, we turned things up a little and went for the middle of the rapids. The crowd on land told us that we hit the first wave straight on, came cresting with the front of the boat right up out of the water on the second wave...and then totally ate the third wave before dumping the boat. It was awesome!
Here some videos (thank you Rachel for bringing your camera) of Scott and I taking on 'Rifle Shoot Rapid' and trying to slide into 'Feel Good Eddy'.




and finally Kevin and I taking on the last set of rapids. It was quite the long set (likely 250 yards or so) and we tackled it as best we could. I apologize for the wobbly camerawork.




Looking forward to some flatwater canoeing for the next long while (keeping myself and all of my gear dry) and getting out on the water with my boys in a more controlled atmosphere. But wow, what an amazing weekend that I'll never forget.

Silliness on the swings

The boys are almost too big to use our swing set as intended....that has not stopped them from coming up with this game though of counting down and leaping off the swings.It seems to provide hours of fun!!