The last day of the school holidays. A day for polishing school shoes, ironing uniforms, unearthing school hats. A subdued kind of day.
At least, it should have been.
Yes, the school shoes are polished, the uniforms are ironed, the hat is, um, somewhere. But The Builder also decided that the last day of the school holidays was the perfect day to go out and buy an inflatable boat. A rubber duckie, so to speak. Which he duly did. Along with oars, a pump and four life jackets.
We took the SS Fibro out to that place near the beach that I call The Creek and Sister B calls The Lagoon (summing up the differences in our world views in one easy step). Our plans were momentarily thwarted when we realised that the tide was out. So far out as to leave about 20 centimetres of water in which to launch our mighty vessel. And that was in the deep water.
“Guess we won’t be needing these,” said The Builder, tossing our bright yellow safety vests back into the car.
And so we spent the waning hours of the summer break dragging the boys up and down the creek in a bright blue inflatable boat. Actually, we spent about 20 minutes doing that and then The Builder and I lazed in the shallows as they dragged themselves up and down the creek, recruiting another young swimmer to help with the task when they got tired.
Mr4 showed great talent for throwing himself and his oar off the back of the boat. We may need to work on this before we find deeper water. Mr7 showed great talent for ‘supervising’ – “I’m the Captain – you push.” He is destined for great things.
At one point, The Builder and I found ourselves alone in the boat, lazily drifting downstream a few centimetres, staring up at a wide, blue sky. “This floating thing is very relaxing,” I said.
“Yes,” he answered. “Just imagine how good it will be when the water is above our knees.”
We are already planning our next boating adventure. Mr7 thinks New Zealand would be nice at this time of year. Mr4 just wants to wear his life jacket. The Builder foresees many lazy, after-work outings now that the tourists have all gone home.
I’m happy to be making memories.
{image: Ninja-Ai/deviantart.com}
Total crack up! (That comment by Trish above… spontaneous… heh, heh…) The post was a crack too, I especially laughed at the ‘floating a few centimetres’. Guffaw! x
The Builder is clearly one spontaneous guy! Got to love that, quite apart from the lovely afternoon!
Trish
xx
Squeeeee! Sounds like such fun. Can’t wait to check out the new family member. BTW we call it ‘the shallow bit at V’. What does that say about our world view?
How lovely, now I want a rubber ducky!
Love it, just did a post on how much i love the school holidays as not everyone enjoys it. Best time of your lives!! Happy times in your rubber ducky. We still have another week + of school holidays, i think Canberra has to be last?? Love Posie
I loved the way you were all dragging the boat up and down the creek. Took me back to my childhood. At the time I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t revel in the pulling the way we did in being pulled along. Cheers to back to school this week. *clinks glass*
That sounds just wonderful!
All you need while floating along the water is a glass of bubbly in your hand.
(((( Hugs )))) XXXX Kisses XXXX
What a lovely way to spend the end of the holidays.
Sounds gorgeous… I was at same sandy creek yesterday while the tide was high and it was sublime, even without a rubber duckie. Ms7 andher cousins made sandcastles.
Nothing better than messing about in a boat to make the end of the holiday memorable – the creation of possibilities, adding depth and poignancy to the transition…
(shouldn’t have had that lunchtime beer)
How lovely that you made the most of your last day all together…even if it was in a puddle.
Love it. Imagine how happy they’ll be when there’s actual water.
Just perfect Ms Pink Fibro! Love making memories. School holidays have been blissful. we’ve not back until Friday – soaking up the last few days. Hope the return to school is a good one at the pink fibro!
sounds like a gorgeous family afternoon.
What a beautiful word picture…keep dreaming! The memory of this watery adventure will keep you going through all that back to school reality.
Blissfull now. Heartwarming for the future.
And I agree re the floating. To float is to chill.
Perfect end to the holidays I reckon!
Sounds like a fabulous family day.
Michelle 🙂