Look at the Tugboat!

My daughter wants to go swimming. She is three. She lives in the here and now! We packed her swimsuit and took it all the way to Nebraska and back, and she never got to wear it. So, two days ago, when she got up, she decided she wasn’t going to wait any longer. She put the suit on and was ready to go.

Well, first daddy had to run some errands. “Do you want to go with me?” I asked. Of course! So off we went on a round trip down Highway 30 and back. Yep, you guessed it, she fell asleep. Just as I was pulling into the driveway, she woke up. “I want to go swimming Daddy?”

Nothing to do but close the garage door and head back down to the river. I knew it was too cold, but she was on a mission – and since she is a lot like me, I know she is not easily dissuaded from her goals. The Columbia River is one of the largest rivers in the world and it is just a mile from our house.

We got out of the car. It was sort of sunny, sort of cold, and kind of windy; but we walked down to the shore. It was so much fun to not be the “bad guy” and to let her make up her own mind about swimming. She reluctantly took of her shoes was not about to take off her sweats and go in the water. She ran around on the sand like a little puppy – it was so much fun to watch!

I finally convinced her to put a toe in the water. “Just see if it’s cold,” I suggested. It was. After a little horseplay, we sat down on the beach and watched the tugboats, the fishermen, and a big black lab playing in the water. She snuggled between my legs and I wrapped a blanket around her. We were warm enough and it was beautiful out. It was a good day.