July 5, 2014. Canyon Lake, Texas. Boating.

David has a love hate relationship with boats. He loves to be out on the boat but he hates the fact that the boat often needs to go in for repairs. The dogs just love the boat. They get in the boat the minute it seems that a boat trip is in the future. And they curl up and stay for hours on the boat. The children are like the dogs in that they love to go out on the boat, especially if they will be taken tubing. Ken also loves small boats but now that he is less stable, he has difficulty getting on and off so most of the time he stays at home. I like the idea of boating but do not actually enjoy being out on the water in a small boat. They bounce around too much. This afternoon, David launched his boat so everyone except Ken accompanied him. We had a wonderful afternoon, visiting with friends on their boats where we all anchored out together, followed by 6 of the children convincing David to go take them tubing. 2 boys and our 4 girls took turns, three at a time. The kids were 12 to 16 in age and they had a blast. I even forgot all about the bouncing boat when I could hear the shrieking kids. They loved it. It was not a pretty picture when it was time to get me off the boat. Everyone else just jumps off the bow of the boat onto shore but I elected to sit on the stern and get into the water fully clothes and swim to shore. It was effective, and I got cool after spending a lovely afternoon on the boat. I actually enjoyed the boating.