Water brings joyful childhood memories back to my mind. I remember how the irrigation water used to fill up a low spot in the yard creating a large 6" deep puddle that was ideal to play in. Sometimes it got even larger and we would dig ditches and trenches to tunnel the water to and fro. But most of all, I remember splashing and playing in that puddle as though it were the grandest swimming pool ever. It never really even got stagnant because the irrigation pipes had just enough holes in them to keep it full. I'm sure I came in on numerous occasions covered in mud, yet my mom never scolded me for being dirty, I simply had to change into clean, dry clothes to enjoy the rest of my day. (While I don't have a picture of us playing in the puddle as young children, the puddle was a nearly permanent part of our yard for many years. This is a picture of me as a teenager with that puddle still there in the background.)
This year it has been fun to observe my family playing in the water. Now we don't have a convenient, ever present mud puddle in our yard thank goodness, so we go play where there are large bodies of water suited to that purpose. Our first water excursion this year occurred in July in Taber on the River. Given how high the river was in early spring, it was kind of fun to see that it was now low enough that we could go out onto the sandbars and dig in the sand, discover water smoothed rocks flat enough to skip along the surface of the river, and try out our new kayak! We even discovered a number of clams, and had we been so inclined could have had a mighty feast of clam (I have no idea how to do that though so we left them for someone else to enjoy).
Naomi had secretly packed the vehicle with everything we would need for a meal and the water activities we had planned to engage in - including life jackets, water shoes, kayak, picnic supplies, water, camera and more... The kids and I drove to Taber where we met their dad on his way home from work to enjoy a fun evening together. The kids caught on pretty quick to what our plans were when they noticed all the stuff in the back. We started out with our surprise picnic. The mosquitoes were terrible so we hurried through the meal and then moved on to the water activities. A few of the kids and myself explored for a way to get the boat to the waters edge (this was where we discovered the clams). Everyone else followed once the boat was ready.
Breanna was delighted to be the first in the boat with her dad. She did everything she could to paddle, but the river was very strong and it was a lot of work for Chad to prevent the boat from moving too far down the river. Next, we had an older child give it a try. Myles happily hopped in and they shoved off. Once again it was a challenge to keep the boat pointed upstream, but together they made a little headway. It was still a lot of work, and so we decided that boating would need to be saved for a future date with less current.
While they were testing the waters, everyone else found activities that occupied them at the waters edge. Melodee, Charity and Breanna especially enjoyed wading at the waters edge going in up to their knees and of course splashing each other. They also enjoyed seeking out flat river polished stones that they could skip. They tried to beat each other with the number of skips the rocks would take. At one point we came across a set of paddles left on the beach and the kids fully enjoyed splashing one another with them. Naomi was quite interested in getting sunset pictures for the upcoming fair. She found a feather on the beach and found a creative way to include it in her photo shoot.
While we didn't get to do as much boating as we had hoped, it was a delightful evening that allowed us to spend some fun time together. Life is so full of these great opportunities. I have found over the years that to take advantage of the greatest opportunities of our lives, it takes concentrated effort and even some sacrifice in order to make these things happen. However, I cannot think of a greater priority than family. What a blessing it is to love and be loved.
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