Thursday, December 16, 2010

Grannie Camp: Sailing!

One more new word Kenna learned at Grannie Camp was "boat!" and for good reason... she got to go on her very first sailboat ride at the tender age of 2. If you've never been on a small sailboat (actually this one was 19 feet which is not exactly tiny) it's very different from a motor boat or bigger boat. When you are really sailing, the boat leans over so far you can stick your hand out and touch the water. I grew up on sailboats at Grannie's (we even have a couple of family members who have lived on their boats at different times throughout the years!) and I absolutely love being out on the water, but I do have to admit that it was a whole different ballgame 7 months pregnant & trying to keep a squirmy toddler from going overboard! (Just kidding... mostly).

On our first visit to the Sailing Center (a local place where people of all ages and physical conditions can go sailing or take lessons), they were having a regatta where local teens and kids were competing in sailboat races. The director of the center took one look at Matt's camera and invited him out to take some promotional pictures of the regatta for her! He jumped at the chance, of course, and here are some of the awesome shots he took (he took about a bajillion, so this is just a random sampling!):
Meanwhile, Grannie, Kenna and I held down the fort at the sailing center, watching the boats come and go and making new friends (we were both ready to take that little white dog home with us!):
Trying to find the boat Daddy was on:
I think this slushee produced baby's first brain freeze- Kenna sucked it all down in minutes, then handed me the empty cup and said "mommy owie!" Grannie thought it was pretty funny that Kenna came all the way to Florida and learned to say "brr cold." It was thanks to this slushee!
Before we left, we made plans to come back so that Matt could take his first sailing lesson the next day, and we all came along for the ride! We were cracking each other up quoting funny movie lines about sailing... "I'm sailing!" and "Is this outfit inappropriate? For the boat?" (If you know what movie that one is from, major bonus points to you!)

Getting our life jackets on (including Little Brother!):
Kenna was so excited about the boat and water that she went running down the dock. She was insistent that both water bottles came on the boat with us.
Grannie was glad for the chance to get back out on the water too!
We had a really, really great instructor (he teaches other instructors) and Matt had an absolute blast learning to sail! It didn't take him long to get the hang of it.
I wondered if we were a little crazy for trying to take Kenna, but she really enjoyed it! She loved when the water splashed up on us even though it was really cold. The people at the Sailing Center were very accommodating- the instructor said he was on a sailboat for the first time at 6 weeks old! By the end of the trip, Kenna was ready to help sail!
An hour or two later, weary but exhilarated travelers ready to pack it in:
Sadly, the next morning was our last day and there was just enough time to wake up, get packed, and head to the airport. Kenna fell asleep in the car on the way there, so I took a picture thinking it was the perfect "last picture" from Grannie Camp to show how worn out we were from so much nonstop fun!
But then she was too cute helping roll the suitcases away in the airport, so that was the last picture:
But then she slept all the way home on the plane, completely conked out... and that was the last picture.
What an awesome time we had! Thank you, Grannie and Pop Pop for another fantastic year at Grannie Camp- we can't wait to come back!

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