Sometimes, the secret is…

Yesterday, we got together with a bunch of friends and paddled around Scappoose Bay.  My friend Dan organized it, and Vern helped him.  It was a great afternoon!

Sometimes the secret to being a great dad is to stop thinking, stop talking, and stop trying to be perfect.  Just grab the paddle and take your family out (metaphorically, or for real).

This was our first family excursion in the new-to-us canoe, so there was some, um, adjustments to be made.

We started out with an extra paddler, but the combination of his weight, and inexperience, made the canoe a bit tippy ( <– that’s a technical term).  But we pawned him off to another canoe and life was better – for us anyway.

Then the warm Summer day, a rare 90 degrees in these here parts, made our infant son a bit warm in his PFD.  So the crying infant and my wife’s attempts to nurse him with PFDs, it was quite comical.  But soon, everything settled down and we had a great afternoon.  We even came across this Goose nest with six eggs.

I tend to be a bit task oriented sometimes.  There is obviously plenty of chores and plenty to do around the house.

But yesterday, for a few hours, we did nothing but float our boat on the mighty Columbia. We saw some cool birds, a part of river life we don’t often see, and had a great time with the family.

Sometimes, the secret, is to do nothing but create memories – but these are memories that last a lifetime.

Sometimes, the secret, is to do nothing but create memories – but these are memories that last a lifetime.