Our Blow Up Boat

Mikey and I went to Sylvan Lake, Alberta last week.  Its a resort community built on a little lake in central Alberta.  Its a quiet place where you can park your car for a few days and walk to get everything you need.  We went intending to take in the beaches, tour boat trips, waterslidees, mini-golf, playgrounds and go-carts. 

Our first morning there we woke up to weather that wasn't overly suited to water pursuits but with hope in our hearts, we went out for a walk in the morning thinking that by that afternoon we would be at the beach.  We were about 5 of 6 blocks from our hotel when Mikey spotted a store that he wanted to go in.  We had already passed 3 or 4 stores that sold beach toys but this was the one that Mikey figured was worth checking out.

After exploring the store for a while, Mikey asked if he could have a boat.  I remembered the hours and hours that my brothers and I had spent with our blow-up boats as children and was excited to relive that part of my childhood now that I am a parent.  And so we bought a 3-man boat as I figured that way we could fit comfortably in the boat.  The man at the store was great and he really took some time getting excited with Mikey about his new boat :).  He then asked if we wanted him to blow up and set up the boat for us and Mikey right away said he did.

A few minutes later we were standing in the wind with fully blown up 3 man boat.  Mikey was shaking he was so excited about his boat and I was shaking because I was so nervous about getting this thing back to the hotel without having it blow away or Mikey take off as I had no free hands. 

We moved over to the other side of the road and walked along the beach.  Mikey took one side of the boat and I the other and we battled the wind all the way to the hotel.  We were quite the sight and whenever anybody would stop and look at us, Mikey would have to tell them that we were carrying a boat as if it would some sort of surprise to them that he needed to explain ;).

By the time we reached the hotel it had started to rain and our plans to go out to the beach that afternoon were put on hold.  Instead, I pulled out a bag of brand new balloons and we filled the boat full of blown up balloons and had a great time playing with them all afternoon.

It was the next day before we took the boat out on the lake.  We again were a sight carrying the boat loaded with all our beach stuff around.  Mikey enjoyed pushing the boat in the water and carrying it but he wasn't as thrilled with it when I put the two of us in and we went for a little row.  So he ended up using hte boat in the way that he figured it was meant to be used instead and had a blast and I loved watching him and witnessing all the ways I never dreamed up as a kid to play with this toy.  Go figure!

Comments

[Denise Orieux]

Love it Monica! isn't it truly amazing what ideas they come up with that we never thought of?

[Monica]

And "they" say creativity and imagination are dead ;). We had a lot of fun but the lazy days of summer are already seeming like a long time ago.