Spring Break Adventures

This week is spring break and I have been blessed enough to take off a couple of days to spend with Kiera. I love the adventures I have with her.

Sunday and Monday we spent a little time out at the lake fishing, cooking out and playing games with family. I enjoyed just sitting on the edge of the lake and watching the water.

"Kiera, have you been in the paddle boat this weekend?" I asked her as she tossed her fishing line back into the water.

"No, but I'd like to go." She replied.

"Let's do it!" I exclaimed, hopping to my feet and pulling my tennis shoes off.

Aaron didn't say a word as he pulled the paddle boat over to the bank so that Kiera and I could climb in. He knows my track record with the paddle boat... and no... I have not fallen out of one. Yet. I just have a small problem with the steering of the said paddle boat.

We rolled our pant legs up and stepped into the icy cold lake water before climbing into the boat.

"All right. Let's do this!" I said to Kiera as we began paddling backward to get away from the bank.

We made it about 10 feet from the bank before we began paddling in a circle. Not on purpose, mind you. I can never figure out the direction of the lever versus the rudder. Let's just say, if I had to escape a crazy person via paddle boat, well, I'd probably just be better off swimming for my life.

After turning in several circles, I finally adjusted us to where we made it a short distance from the bank.

"Ready to throw your line in?" I asked.

"I am!" Kiera exclaimed excitedly as she reared her arm back. I ducked slightly to avoid the hook and dangling worm that came close to my hair before she let her line fly.

Tossing my line in, I relaxed in my seat... for about a span of two minutes. The wind began pushing us close to the bank off to our right.

I reeled my line in and began to paddle... once again in a circle. Kiera and I laughed as we tried to get straightened out. Finally, we managed to head in one direction. "Let's try this again," I stated as I released my line into the water.

"Something is wrong with mine," Kiera responded as she held the end of her pole in my direction. "It's all tangled up."

I reached for the tip of the pole and began to unwind her bobber and hook from its tangled mess. As I finished I dropped the hook and she pulled her pole ever so gently.

"Don't move." I stated to her, trying to hide the alarm in my voice. I reached down to gingerly pull the hook out of the bottom of my bare foot where it had landed when I dropped it. Thankfully, it had not pierced my foot.

"Sorry, Mom." Kiera giggled. "Glad I didn't jerk my pole."

By this time, we had managed to drift back into the tree limbs protruding from the bottom of the lake bed. I set my pole down and began to paddle... yes, we wound up going in a circle... again.

Kiera decided that at this stage, she would just drag her line through the water as we paddled. Every now and then she would jerk the line up to see if her bait was still attached.

"Ok," I said as I stopped paddling for the umpteenth time. "Let's try again."

I didn't even toss my line out, just hit the release button and let the hook fall in the water.

"Mom," Kiera said in a hushed tone. "There is a spider by my foot peddle."

I was surprised that this was the first time she had noticed it. I had been keeping an eye on it since we were about ten feet from the bank.

"He's not going to hurt you. He's too little." I replied. "Let's keep fishing."

I started to drop my line. Honestly, I'm not sure why I even was trying at this point. There was not any chance we were going to catch anything, but we were having lots of laughs.

Noticing that we had drifted back towards the trees, I gave up and set my pole down and started to paddle. The only problem was, not only did we start to go in a circle, but the hook from my line was not actually in the paddle boat. Instead, it was hanging off the boat, where it managed to wrap itself around one of the tree limbs protruding out of the water.

I stopped paddling and began to tug on my pole. Kiera continued to drop her line in and out of the water for a moment before she noticed our predicament.

"Are we stuck?" She asked.

I sighed and glanced back towards shore. Aaron had his phone pointed at us, obviously to take photos of our escapades.

Taking a deep breath, I twisted in my seat and laid over gently to try and untangle the line that I could not see.

"Let me try." Kiera said, shifting in her seat.

"No!' I quickly exclaimed. "You stay there. I don't want you to fall out."

After several minutes of tugging and twisting, I managed to free my line from the tree. "You ready to head back to the shore?" I asked Kiera.

"Yes. I think my bait is gone anyway." She responded with a shake of her head. Placing her pole in the center of the boat, she started to place her feet back on the peddles. "Ummm... Mom? The spider is gone."

I crinkled up my face. "You know what? It's ok. I'll paddle."

Kiera tucked her bare feet up under her legs and we headed back to shore.

And before you ask... we did not make it back to shore without turning in a few circles. Let's just say I was able to get some exercise in.

I can't wait to see what adventure awaits us Tuesday.

Rowonna McNeely her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.