Canoeing Down the River

This weekend we went on a float trip with a bunch of Thompsons. We went down to the Maramec River and stayed in a Ranch House with 16 people. Noah had a blast on his first canoeing adventure! Levi was along for the ride, since he couldn't go canoeing yet. However, Levi did pull up to his feet for the first time by himself while we were on the trip. I know several people who have babies 3-5 months younger that are aready doing that, but I've said it before, Levi is very content and does things at his own pace. Here he is making faces at me through the pack 'n play.


Here we are getting ready to lauch for our first canoe trip with Noah. It took about 3 1/2 hours total. Noah was excited to get going but was white knuckled holding onto the bar in front of him b/c he saw his great Aunt Sandy and Uncle Doug tip over within a minute of launching and then Papa T. and Uncle Jake tipped alongside of them. Sorry to those that went with us, but Preston and I were definitely the "more experienced" canoers. After about an hour or so Noah finally loosened up. We were Turtle Hunting while in the boat. That was Noah's job, to look for turtles that were sitting on treestumps sunning themselves. We saw TONS of turtles and one snake. It was funny because Jake (my sis-in-laws hubby) had just gotten done saying that the water was too cold for snakes, we went around a bend, and what do you know, a snake swimming in the water! Funny!




Here is one stop along the way. The water is springfed so its cold, but it was warm enough outside to feel nice. Noah had fun exploring.




Here are a few family members from the trip.


Noah is looking through the water, at the end of the trip, trying to find good "throwing rocks".



These butterflies were awaiting our return at the end of the float. They were everywhere!



Noah is showing me a butterfly he caught. This is the first one he has caught 100% on his own! It was very monumental that he was stealthy enough to sneak up on it and pick it up by its wings like he was taught to do at the Runge Center a few weeks ago.