Since the weather has been a little cooler, Daniel and I decided to take our canoe out on Sunday. We started the day eating breakfast on our back porch and listening to the church bells down the road chime out the song "When Peace Like a River." It was a perfect way to start our day.
After lunch we loaded up our canoe, gear and Sophie and headed over to Bellefonte. There was a time when Sophie was terrified of the water. But she got used to it. And then she didn't like her life jacket. But she got used to that too. And she wasn't fond of sitting in the canoe. But she got used to that as well. In fact, when I climbed in the canoe, she waded out in the water and tried to climb in by herself – I guess she didn't want to get left behind.
We paddled about 1.5 miles through a marshy inlet to get to the Tennessee River. It is amazing what a difference there is between a big flowing river and a little tributary. There was plenty of wildlife to see – mostly huge cranes and storks and the occasional fish flopping on the surface of the water. I thought Sophie was going to launch herself into the water on several occasions, but I think her fear of deep water kept her in check.
When we finally reached the river, Daniel decided to jump in. Then we coaxed Sophie to get in with him {i.e. we tossed her overboard} – we are all about exposing her to things she doesn't like so that she can get used to them. For the most part this works great. As long as she could float with Daniel, she was fine. However she was shaking a bit so we put her back in the boat.
When Daniel went to get back in the canoe – I mentioned multiple times how he better not flip us. Being 7 months pregnant I am in no shape to pull myself back into a canoe out on open water. He started out by pulling himself up on the left side of the boat while I shifted my weight to the right as a counter balance. We were doing good until I realized he had somehow slid all the way across the back of the canoe and we were in danger of flipping over to the right! I shifted my weight to the left and he fell back into the water {we were precariously close to flipping and I was NOT HAPPY}. Anyways, his second try was better.
We paddled a total of about 3.5 miles. It was a perfect afternoon to be out on the water.
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