float trip ..

granny .. grandpa .. ellie .. cash .. uncle matt .. kali and luke went on a float trip on tuesday .. up to noel, MO ..

no .. i did not go .. jeff was in reno at a dealer show so i stayed home in my pj's .. ate oreos .. drank diet coke and watched 900 episodes of law and order .. call it a mental health day .. and yes .. i know just how lucky i am that my parents take my kiddos so that i can have a day to myself .. if i told you that the kids spent monday night at granny and grandpa's would you totally be jealous .. well .. they did .. so technically i had monday night and tuesday all to myself .. yes it was glorious .. i am a new person .. at least for a week or two .. so .. back to the float trip .. grandpa rode his motorcycle the other day up to noel, mo .. he stopped by the shop on the way home and said .. do you mind if we take the kids on tuesday and float the river ... matt .. kali and luke will go to .. oh gosh dad .. YES YES YES .. that sounds perfect .. i had the kids float trip bag packed on sunday .. they were ready .. ellie kept asking .. is it tuesday yet ?

don't you remember when you were little how much fun float trips were .. how tired and sunburned you were when you got home .. how clear and COLD the water was .. so clear that you could see tadpoles and fish and rocks ..

how you would stop halfway thru and throw rocks and eat sandwhichs ..

cash was being a very responsible floater ..

remember how you would have to wear tennis shoes so that the rocks did not hurt your feet ..

how you would watch out for the "rapids" that would carry your canoe/raft fast and toss you around .. or maybe that was my dad that always rocked the canoe when we went thru the rapids .. and how you would splash each other with the paddles .. i told ellie to watch out for grandpa .. because he was a super paddle splasher ..

how you would float behind the canoe when you got hot ..

how you would walk along the shore and look for shells and the perfect rock to skip .. well they did all that and more .. they all came home exhausted .. a little sunburned on their legs and full of fun fun float trip memories .. i asked them if they wanted to go again .. and they both said yes .. then grandpa chimes in and says ... yes .. but i think that next time we will go and float the illinois .. and yes .. i will say it again .. my kids are just about the luckiest kids there are ..