Snake!

Every year my family and a group of our close friends head out for a day spent along the river canoeing.  The entire day is filled with sunshine, lots of memories, and maybe a few cold cocktails for the adults. We always have a fantastic time and it’s something I always look forward to.

This year my little brother, husband, and I bought kayaks specifically for this trip.  It’s an investment we’ve been talking about for years.  We spent a majority of the 4^th of July lazily floating down the canal preparing ourselves for the family outing on Saturday.  My entire day consisted mostly of this…

Not a bad way to start the celebration!

Friday evening we headed to my families cabin in the Southern Tier. We spent the evening stuffing our faces full of delicious clams and probably one too many beers.  It made a great memory!

Traveling with one of my favorite companions! 

Saturday, we spent the day on the river.  

Just me and the hubs

Rest stop!

My new kayak made the trip a breeze until I was booted out and forced into a canoe.  It was my mom and my first time navigating a canoe together.  We weren’t in the canoe together more than five minutes before we managed to get stuck on a rock in a rather quickly flowing rapid.  We got out of the boat and pushed it past the rocks, just as I was able to get back into the canoe a snake slithered up towards my foot.  Naturally, I screamed and pushed the canoe away from me.  My mom took off after the canoe. Watching her chase the snake infested canoe down the river caused me to burst out laughing.  By the time I reached her and the canoe I was in the midst of a full on laugh attack-Yup, belly rolling laugh attack.  I couldn’t even concentrate. 

After the snake was gently place back into nature and my mom and I were able to claim our canoe back we managed to get a better grasps on navigating the canoe together.  However, we didn’t master it at all. We crashed into a log which caused me to lose my paddle and we jokingly argued about how to properly operate the canoe.  It was extremely comical.  I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. As we awkwardly made our way down the river, I thought how therapeutic a good laugh can be.  It really warms the spirit.  Yeah, we had a fantastic weekend! I hope you did too!