Summer fun on the water

Canyone Lake,
http://www.wildtexas.com/parks/canyon.php

My earliest memories of being on the water were when I was around 9 or 10. We lived in San Antonio and in the summer would camp and go water skiing at Canyon Lake. I remember how much fun we would have swimming, camping, and of course being out on the boat. The summer of 1981 I moved back to Northern Ky. We didn't water ski anymore but we lived right next to the pool and the Ohio river. Every waking moment was spent with my friends swimming at the pool or running around on the shores of the river having mud fights and campfires. I met my very best friend when we lived there and to this day she is still my best friend. Those were the best summers of my life.

As I got older the opportunities to hang by the pool or on the lake have become fewer and fewer, now time spent on the water is limited to a week's vacation at the beach or some place with a pool. So, when I get the chance I jump on it. This week I've had two of those chances. Saturday I went kayaking for the first time. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. I can totally see myself getting addicted to kayaking. It's just so peaceful to glide across the water with little effort. You can push the world out of your head and focus on nothing but the sound of the water, birds in the nearby trees and the occasional dragonfly that buzzes by you. That experience alone was enough to pump me up for the week but on Monday I was invited to come along on a tubing/campout with my daughter's Young Women's youth group.

Some friends of ours offered to let them camp on their property which is bordered by a small river that is popular for canoeing and tubing. Yesterday, there were too many canoers out. So, we ended up at their lake. It is a beautiful place. Completely private and surrounded by trees, we had the run of the place. We floated around on rafts, swam, and watched the girls have mudball fights. It was like being transported back in time and I was 14 again. I love those rare days when everything is perfect and dreamlike. Time almost stands still and you wish the day would never end. This was definitely one of those days.

While I've often wish I could go back to the perfect carefree fun filled days of my youth, the adult world pulls me back in and reminds me that that's no longer an option. There's a house to take care of, bills to pay, errands to run and a family that needs me. Even though I can't go back, the mom in me is happy that I can provide opportunities for my children to have memories that they can happily look back upon.  And that my friends is perfect enough for me.

Hugs,
Missy