We've not been to the gravel bar much this year, but this last week we made the trip to see Ducky and Gigi while they camped. It is one of the 3 ancestral stomping grounds that put me immediately at ease (it and the hills in Platte & Buchanan Cos. in MO as well as the area around Atchison, KS). We took a buddy with us this time. What fun we had!
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| One of my favorite gravel bar picture places |
From the moment we pulled in, Bubby and his buddy were on the ground running. They took off exploring the area. Thankfully it was cool so we didn't have to worry about ticks! The first project became building a raft. Ducky provided fishing twine & they made up the plan themselves. They were so proud!
Of course, they wanted to try it out. Oh, I am not an adventurous soul, so I squirmed and hemmed and hawed and then caved. How can you turn down two excited boys? The first attempt ended a little soggily...
They added some bigger logs for more buoyancy and success! Of course we had them to a rope we held and they rode close to shore, but it was enough:)
Well, it got a little river weary by the end of it all, but they had fun! They are now nicknamed Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn! ;)
The next day they were up at daybreak and Ducky took them out fishing by a fire on the gravel bar.
Then was a tour of all three gravel bars which led to some of them being covered almost head to toe in sticktights.
The boys weren't the only ones having fun, Mookie went exploring to capture some lovely wildlife shots...
And Shorty was happy just following adventure where he could...
We came home tired, stinky and dirty but we wouldn't have in any other way:)
Our daughters' friends always remembered the simplest things we did, like investigating a nearby creek bed and finding tiny crawfish. Sometimes they ended up ruining their shoes, since they weren't prepared for being messy. They thanked me for those adventures much more than for anything sophisticated that we did :) (Not sure what their mothers said privately... ) And our friends' sons who haven't visited since childhood STILL remember Ali taking them fishing, the only time they ever did. Your kids will remember the gravel bar and their times there as long as they live. Pat H.
ReplyDeleteI was texting the friend's mom and saying that they wanted to take the raft on the river and she said "how exciting!". I was looking for an out and didn't get one;) They had such fun - I am so glad that we have a place like that where we can make such wonderful memories! :)
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